Wanderlust
by Aminti
Summary: Another trainer leaves home, another story unfolds, though perhaps resumes is more apt a term. Max takes to the open roads of Hoenn in hopes of forging his own path. Let's just hope the second trek around the country is a great deal calmer than the first.
1. Chapter 1: Prelude

****Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.**

 **Author's Note:** This fanfiction is set in the anime, diverging after AG192 (Home is Where the Start Is!). Anything from the DP series is explicitly non-canon for this fic, though parts of it may well remain inside the canon. You'll see those mentioned or outright described. Additionally, the entire cast is aged up by two (2) years. Trainers start when they're twelve, not ten. As of the start of this chapter, about four and a half years have passed since Ash left Pallet Town with a very reluctant Electric rat, making him 16, and May turned 14 earlier in the year. Lastly, this fic is rated T, mainly to be on the safe side.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Prelude**

Spring had arrived! Professor Maxim Birch of Littleroot loved the spring, both personally and as a researcher. Perhaps it was slightly on the cooler side, compared to other recent springs, but very few Pokémon in the southern Hoenn region actually seemed to care about that. Birds were far more interested in building nests for their coming young, which would be hatching in a few weeks time, and several quadruped Pokémon in the area, like the skittish zigzagoon and the tenacious pooychena, took this time to move around in search of new stomping grounds. It was a fascinating experience to witness, and Birch felt privileged that his work allowed him to observe these events. It even made the tedious grant request writing worth it.

He had been in the wild for a few days now, using his trustworthy SUV to transport him around. He currently was about thirty-five miles out from his laboratory, where his assistant Joshua was working to keep everything, including the Hoenn Pokémon storage, running. The last time that the professor had heard of his assistant was two days back, when a set of imported bouffalant had butted heads with some of the professor's miltank and a trainer's nidoking that happened to be taking a nap nearby. It was a regular and somewhat normal occurrence at any Pokémon laboratory, but the bouffalant had managed to severely injure one of the miltank to the point of specialised medical care being needed, which explained why Joshua had actually called. Despite being an assistant for over three years, the man in his early thirties was still rather uncertain at times.

A vibration in his pocket made Birch lower his binoculars, which he had been using to observe a pitched disagreement between a swellow and a pidgeotto. Speak of the devil. "Birch speaking."

"Good evening Professor," Joshua greeted, unfailingly polite. "You asked me to remind you that you need to be at the laboratory at 10am sharp tomorrow morning to hand out starter Pokémon to two new trainers."

Birch took a moment to look at his watch, and found that it was getting somewhat close to sunset. Funny, he hadn't thought it was that late. "I lost track of time," he admitted, "but I'll be at the lab in about an hour and a half."

"Very well Professor. I'll make sure to stay here until you arrive."

"Nonsense Joshua," Birch said. "Go home. It's a Sunday evening. Spend some time with your girlfriend. She probably hasn't seen you in a week. The laboratory won't blow up in an hour and a half."

"If you insist, sir," Joshua said, sounding as he always did when Birch pressed him to leave the lab after the professor had been absent for a while, which was a strange mix of dejection and relief. "There have been no more accidents of particular note. The log is…"

"Where you always leave it," the Professor interjected, "and unless you hang up and leave in the next ten minutes, I'll be forced to give you a full week off." A quick greeting and a click followed. "Sometimes I wonder why he wants to work in Pokémon research," Birch muttered as he walked back to his SUV mere moments later. "He's far too stressed out."

Two hours later, the Hoenn Pokémon Professor lounged on a chaise longue in the living area of his laboratory and home, a log of accidents on his lap and a mug of coffee in his hand. As he had expected, the only accident that came close to requiring personal attention was the incident with the miltank, and she was due to be released in the morning if the chansey egg extract treatment continued to work its magic. Joshua had also contacted two trainers whose Pokémon had been injured in regular scuffles around the range. Nothing out of the ordinary there either.

For some reason, he had also prepared two sets of start Pokémon for tomorrow. Birch scoffed. That was not needed, at all. Joshua had probably reasoned that they were important starting trainers and that they should have full choice. Or something like that. Birch had a good grasp on how Joshua's mind worked, but a perfect understanding it was not.

Utter nonsense. Birch knew these kids, and they wouldn't pick the same Pokémon. Birch's own nephew was one of them, and he would pick a mudkip to start out with. He'd been going on about the blue quadruped for about three years. Maybe? Birch had lost track. A long time. The other boy was his nephew's best friend, and the son of one of Birch's own best friends: Norman Maple, the Petalburg Gym Leader. Months ago, the Littleroot native had been less certain about what Max wanted, but then he overheard the boy talking about not wanting to have the same Pokémon as his sister. She had taken a torchic, now blaziken, though it had been well over a half a year since that Pokémon had been in the lab.

Two sets? Ridiculous. If anything, he should offer two sets if he didn't know the new trainers, just to make sure they could leave with two mudkip if they wanted to. Why was the limit for two new trainers one set again? Oak probably knew. He'd raise the issue the next time they spoke.

He discarded the log and grabbed a tablet from a nearby table, opening the new trainer template with the ease of habit and setting it up to accept voice to text. "New trainer," he called out, waiting a moment to allow the program to set up, "Daniel Kenai Birch. Date of birth: February sixteenth. Date of departure: March nineteenth."

He checked the data, corrected a typo in his nephew's middle name, and called up the new trainer template again. "New trainer: Max Norman Maple. Date of birth: March fifteenth. Date of departure: March nineteenth." A pause followed as Birch checked the data again. No mistakes were made this time. "Select trainers: Daniel Birch, Max Maple," Birch spoke slowly, and two nearly empty profiles came up on the screen, side by side. "School: Petalburg Primary."

The application filled in the school, causing information to flood onto the screen as data was pulled from the school's system, which in turn was linked to a medical database. In a moment, Birch had access to all of his nephew's and Max's educational scores and medical information. "Save profiles to Pokédexes," Birch ordered after he had finished skimming the data. A progress bar appeared on the screen and two small lights lit up across the room, where the Pokédexes were plugged in to one of the many computers scattered around the laboratory.

The first ten seconds of an old Hoenn folk song announced that the Professor had an incoming call on his computer, and the lack of caller ID made Birch's eyebrows rise. He had expected his brother to call, or perhaps Norman, but neither of those were in a Sinnoh Pokémon Center at the moment, which was where the call originated. When he answered the call, and the video engaged, Birch saw a familiar sixteen-year-old sitting in one of Sinnoh's Pokémon Centers, dressed rather more warmly than Birch had ever needed to dress in the Hoenn region if it didn't involve climbing up to three thousand feet above ground in winter. "Ash! I wasn't expecting you to call. How are you?"

Some small talk ensued, and eventually, a pikachu climbed onto the teen's shoulder, giving a small wave as he saw the face in the videophone. The rodent-like Pokémon was also carrying a small circular package, which he showed, then dropped off-screen into what Birch could only presume to be Ash's hand. "Thanks," Ash said as he scratched the pikachu's head with his left hand. "Professor, it was Max's twelfth birthday yesterday, right?" A nod from Birch confirmed that. "I want to give him a present, but I'm in Sinnoh. Can you to give it to him?"

"Sure," Birch agreed, "but what is it? You know item transportation is very limited, or are you thinking of gifting a Pokémon?" That would be a kingly gift to give. Families might do it, but only the influential or affluent ones did so on top of a laboratory starter; Birch knew Oak had given his grandson both squirtle and eevee for starter Pokémon. He had thought about giving his nephew a second Pokémon himself, but it was something far less common in Hoenn for reasons he didn't understand.

Ash shook his head. "Not a Pokémon, Professor," he said. "I thought about it, but we both know that Max just wants one Pokémon." Max chatting animatedly about a ralts flashed in Birch's mind for a second. "So I'm sending something for that. If I can."

"Of course!" Birch cleared the transport tray out. "Go ahead, send it over." Moments later, the sound of the transport system activating came from first the speakers and then the machine next to Birch. A black ball appeared in the tray, the same size as a regular pokéball, though this was tailored specifically to transporting Pokémon-related items. It used part of the same technology that made even the largest steelix fit into a small container, and the solid black colour set it visually apart from nearly all pokéball designs on the market. "Can I open it?"

"Sure." Ash turned away, and Birch heard vague chatter about the weather.

Birch wasted no time in doing so, aiming the opening mechanism to go towards the empty space on the floor right behind his computer. A flash of light and a turquoise stone appeared on the carpeted floor of Birch's living room. Birch felt his eyebrows go up for the second time in a few minutes. "Is that a Dawn Stone?" Evolutionary stones were rare, and Dawn Stones, along with Shiny and Dusk Stones, were extremely rare in the Home Regions outside of Sinnoh.

Birch wondered if May had gotten such a great gift as well for her birthday, but then he remembered that Ash had sent him – not even his 'own' Professor – a set of pictures of Sinnoh Pokémon in their habitat for Yule. That boy was too generous by half, and May probably received an amazing gift as well.

"It is," Ash said, turning back to the screen. "Yes, Professor, I know it's expensive. I won it in a local tournament, but I don't have any Pokémon who can use it."

"You could sell it," Birch said, "and get money to keep travelling." Dawn Stones would easily fetch enough money for a month's worth of Pokémon food, even in Sinnoh.

"I could," Ash agreed, shrugging. "But friends are more important than money." He turned around again, listening to something only he could hear. "I need to go, Professor. Give Max my best."

"I will." The call ended just as Birch returned the stone to its container. The Pokédexes had finished downloading the data as well, and those, along with the black ball, were taken to the table that held all the items that he would bestow on the boys in the morning. It now featured the two Pokédexes and the item container, as well as an envelope and a newest model Pokénav for his nephew. Birch looked at the collection for a few seconds. Tomorrow would be the most important day in the boys' lives, and he felt proud to be a part of it.

The cry of an angry skarmory knocked the Professor out of his reverie, and moments later, a tremble shook the house slightly as something heavy hit the ground at speed. Birch fingered the two balls clipped to the magnets on his belt, turned around and tore out of the room, intent on making sure his laboratory remained standing.

 **~~§~~§~~**

One more night. One measly more night, and then the two boys lying in a Petalburg City loft could finally leave for their Pokémon journey. One could have left a month before, but he chose not to, instead waiting for his friend to turn twelve as well. The other had already travelled for quite a long time before, joining his sister and some friends on a journey that took him across two of the four Home Regions, to two Grand Festivals, one League Championship, and the entire Kanto Battle Frontier. It had been a let-down, and pretty boring, to have to return to school for six months after travelling for twenty, and he was extremely keen on returning to the Hoenn wilderness.

The exciting day up ahead naturally meant neither boy really wanted to sleep, though they had been made to go upstairs. The adults who had sent them up had probably meant for them to go to bed, but instead, the boys were sitting on one of the two mattresses lying side-by-side on the floor, playing a game of cards. "Do you have any mareep?" one boy, blue-haired and bespectacled, asked.

"Go fish," was the reply of his friend, whose hand only contained remoraid and geodude cards. He was the elder of the two boys, and the owner of the attic room they were sitting in. "So, Max," he said, "do you have any geodude now?"

"Go fish, Danny," Max replied, and when Danny did so, the last remaining geodude card was fished out of the deck, putting him on seven books to Max's four, which was an insurmountable lead. "Well, that's over."

"Finally!" Danny said. "I had three geodudes since forever." He collected all the books on his side and accepted the nineteen cards that Max held out to him. "One last game to see who wins it all?" he asked.

"Nah," the other boy replied, standing up and stretching his arms. "It's ten already? Just twelve hours to go!"

"Ye-aaaaaaaaaaah!" Danny yawned. "Guess some part of me wants go to bed," he added drily.

"You sound like your Dad." Max made sure to stick his tongue out when Danny was looking, which elicited an identical response. "But you're probably right." A yawn punctuated his statement. "See."

Tired as both boys were, neither of them was asleep half an hour later. "Excited for tomorrow?" Danny whispered as Max shifted his weight around for the fifth time in five minutes.

"Duh. Finally going out to meet new Pokémon with my own Pokémon friends." A pause. "And you as well. It's going to be awesome. I just hope…"

"That the ralts is still there?" Danny finished Max's sentence for him. "That'd be way cool. Sucks that we can't buy tickets for the Mossdeep ferry until we're trainers." They had found that out the hard way. No Pokédex identification, no tickets, even if you had the required money, which the boys did.

"Yeah, and it only runs on Mondays too. Hope there's room on board by the time we get to the port."

"Hope we get to the port in time first," Danny corrected. "You know there'll be delays in leaving. There always are."

"Truuuuuuuueeeeee." Max's reply turned into a yawn midway through. "Falling asleep, try seventeen. Let's do this. Night."

"Night." And the room was mostly silent until an alarm clock woke both boys up.

 **~~§~~§~~**

As the boys were playing Go Fish upstairs, their parents were two floors down, enjoying a good night with friends, alcohol, and many memories. "Do you remember Max's ninth birthday party?" Gregory Birch said, glass of red wine in hand. "Max was so certain he would be a better trainer than his sister."

"I remember that," his wife, Elizabeth, said, clutching a glass of expensive cognac. "Of course, his sister was positively skittish around most Pokémon back then. Boys do associate that with weakness." She sipped from her glass. "She did turn out a rather good coordinator. How were her results again?"

"She reached the top eight in Hoenn and the top four in Kanto," Caroline, Max's mother, said. "I think she has four ribbons in Johto now. Norman?" A nod from her husband confirmed Caroline's statement. "She has a month to get her fifth ribbon to compete, and she told me she finished second place in three other contests."

"Just so," Elizabeth said. "Let's hope for our sakes that our boys will have the same acumen as her or that friend she travelled around with. What was his name again? Ash?"

"Yes, his name was Ash," Norman said, "and I think they'll be fine. In fact…" Norman took his wallet from his back pocket. "I bet five thousand Pokédollars that one of the two will get to the round of 64 in their first League Championship." He punctuated his bet by placing a banknote on the table.

Caroline sent a mild look of disapproval at her husband, but Elizabeth took the five thousand Pokédollar note into her hand without hesitation. "I will take that bet, Norman. Learning by osmosis is one thing, but I do believe you overestimate them."

The bet duly accepted, Elizabeth returned the money to Norman and talk returned to memories of the boys growing up. It was later that night, when Norman had stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, that he heard the slow and steady footsteps of his friend coming towards him. "Need some fresh air too, Gregory?"

"Our wives started talking about something I don't want to be in the room for," Gregory replied, "so I came here to ask you something." Norman turned his head. "Why didn't you just bet Max was going to end up deeper in the tournament?"

"I think both of them can be—"

"Oh, shut it Norman," Gregory interrupted the Petalburg Gym Leader. "Don't feed me that; it stinks more than a hostile gloom. Danny will do his best, and I'll be forever proud of him whatever he does, but your son has nearly two years worth of experience on mine. He will have picked up a lot. That is an advantage that you cannot deny."

"And Danny didn't spend every other weekend at your brother's?" Norman countered. "Still, you have a point. It's just..." Norman trailed off, even as he took to pacing. "Look, Gregory, I don't want to get my hopes up too high for him. I know what too high expectations can do to even the best of trainers, and their Pokémon."

"But..."

"But everyone is expecting Max, and Danny too, to do so well. I can hear it in my colleague's voices when they call. They expect to see the new Steven, or the new Lance, dazzling the Leagues, winning one by the time they're 15."

"Could they?"

"I don't make a habit of predicting things that far in the future," Norman shot back, glaring at an unrepentantly grinning Gregory. "Three years is a long time."

"You have so little faith in yourself," Danny's father said, shaking his head sadly. "Justified, perhaps, but it is better to believe in yourself and your abilities. Your life may one day depend on it!" he boomed, striking a dramatic pose. "Or your ego, at least," he calmly added.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Rubbing it in your face how utterly wrong you were about May? Good groudon no. Far too much fun." Anything else he might have wanted to say was stopped by the sudden appearance of his alakazam next to him. "Ah, they've stopped talking?" he asked, and a nod was given in return. "Well, Norman, time to head back inside. Care to help me brave the perils of our spouses?"

"Oh you. I'm glad your brother took up the Professorship. I'm not sure new trainers could cope," Norman said as he rose, a smile on his face despite it all.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _It is a fact of our society that children leave home for a coming of age journey with Pokémon. The Home Regions have long since agreed that children should be given the opportunity to leave at the age of 12, and surveys indicate over 95 % of children do so within two months of their 12_ _th_ _birthday. These numbers are largely unchanged since Sinnoh lowered the legal age to receive a trainer's license over a century ago, after heated debate and the advent of easy boat travel that led many teenagers below the then legal age of 14 to start their journey in Johto._

 _Government money is set aside to support these starting trainers. Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn all allow for a scholarship lasting 42 months, whilst Sinnoh's scholarships last a minimum of 30 months. All countries allow for the option to extend these scholarships, and common clauses under which these extensions are triggered include proven results in either League or Grand Festival-level tournaments._

From: Trainers in the Home Regions, Chapter 2: _Beginning Trainers._


	2. Chapter 2: Travel

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

The last thing either of the boys, and Danny's father, who would take them to the laboratory via alakazam express, wanted to do, was to oversleep. Max had been forewarned by Ash's tale of throwing his alarm clock against the far wall, and the boys had set multiple alarms in places that could not be reached easily. Even so, the first, rather gentle, alarm was soundly ignored until the second alarm joined in at trying to wake the boys up.

Recordings of loudreds creating an uproar were startlingly effective at waking anyone but the utterly exhausted up, albeit at the cost of a very sudden awakening.

At nine fifteen, both boys were ready to go, packs strapped to their back, but Danny's parents wanting to say goodbye took up another fifteen emotional minutes. Max had had the same scene the night before, and quietly left them to it. His thoughts went elsewhere: to Izabe Island.

He knew exactly what to do. Take the ferry from Littleroot to Mossdeep, which took about a day, then take the ferry from Mossdeep to the south side of Izabe Island two days later. Once there, it was about a day's hike to the Pokémon Center that he had last seen ralts at. It wouldn't be hard from there, he hoped.

There'd been a time he thought about leaving without a starter just to get ralts as his starter, but Professor Birch's advice had won Max over, reluctantly. It was just safer to have at least one Pokémon when travelling, and though Max hadn't liked to admit it, there was a chance of ralts not being there any longer. In the end, he had agreed to take a starter Pokémon off Professor Birch's hands. He would pick treecko. He'd seen enough of torchics and while Danny had wanted a mudkip since he was nine, Max was not that enthused about any of the other starter Pokémon. The idea of an eventual sceptile was more attractive than a swampert for him, so he would pick treecko.

The door to the living room opened, indicating that the saying goodbye had stopped. Danny's mother had disappeared, leaving only Danny's father and his alakazam. The bipedal psychic-type never really smiled, as far as Max had been able to see, but when Max grabbed her arm, he felt a sense of amusement, happiness and pride flash through him. He had expected the flash of emotion, though not the exact mixture, and he felt his lips tugged upwards slightly as the emotions bled over. It wouldn't be long now.

"Ready boys?" Danny's father asked as he placed his own hand on alakazam's shoulder, to two affirmative replies. "Let's go. Your big day awaits."

Being teleported was always a seriously weird experience. It was nearly instant, but the sudden shifts in light, sound and surroundings made even the most seasoned psychic trainer take a moment to regain their bearings. Many people, Max included, also felt like they were moved around at breakneck speed for the duration of the teleportation, in roughly the direction they were moving.

The teleportation took them to a small clearing just inside the laboratory grounds. There were Pokémon present in the clearing: mostly bug and grass-types from trainers who had chosen to stall their Pokémon at the Professor, but most of them fled when the party had teleported in. A few stayed, and when Max's vision was working properly again, he was face to face with an aipom hanging from a low branch, which quickly fled into the tree when it saw Max looking back.

"This is as far as I'll go," Danny's father said, as if he hadn't told the boys just that a few times before. "The rest is all up to you. Have fun, don't forget to call and don't even think about trying to make us proud. We already are." He finished up with a firm handshake for Max and a short hug with his son before grasping his alakazam's shoulder once more. A moment later, only flattened grass was a sign that he had ever been there.

"Ready?" Max asked. He couldn't deny the slight flutters in his stomach, but they were the good kind of flutters.

"Born ready."

The path to the laboratory was straightforward. The clearing was only a small distance away from the main entrance to the grounds, and from there, it was a simple, and a bit uphill, walk to the laboratory that took about five minutes total under normal conditions. It was a bit more than that with the packs Danny and Max had with them, and the distraction posed by a flock of beautiful white-blue birds neither of them had ever seen didn't help them break any speed records either. At that moment in time, both boys really wished they already had their Pokédexes to find out what type of Pokémon it was. They knew all the Pokémon generally present in the four Home Regions, but these were obviously not from any of those regions.

There was also a curious impact crater about a minute's walk away from the laboratory, but such things were somewhat of a common sight in any place that harboured a lot of Pokémon.

It was ten to the hour when they reached the front door of the laboratory, which opened when they came within ten paces of it, revealing Professor Birch. "Welcome, new trainers, to the Littleroot Pokémon Lab," he said. Then, he shook his head slowly. "I love saying that."

"Not like we haven't been here before," Danny whispered, causing Max to snort. "Hey uncle." Beside him, Max also uttered a greeting. "What happened this time?"

"A skarmory and a fearow ended up fighting last night. Nothing too unusual, really." The Professor stepped aside, inviting the trainers-to-be in. "You know where to go."

The room that was used to hand out new Pokémon was off in the west wing of the laboratory, close to the living quarters. It had a pokéball transportation machine and a desk at opposite sides of the room, with a table in between them. A small container, black with see-through glass, was the only thing on the table, though several items were laid out on the desk to the side. Professor Birch pressed a button on the side of the container, and the glass slid upwards, a hissing sound accompanying the movement. Three pokéballs were laid out inside the container, side by side, with a symbol indicating the type of the Pokémon inside. "Choose your starter."

Danny walked up first and put his hand on the rightmost ball, his thumb reaching out to touch the blue droplet on the container's exterior. "Mudkip for me." He lifted the ball out of the container, but did not yet allow it to open. "Come on Max, your turn."

Max stepped forward and took the left pokéball. "Treecko it is. Come on out!"

Out came the small grass-type, light green with a tail of darker green. Yellow, reptilian, intelligent eyes instantly locked on to Max, who crouched down to be at a more equal level. The treecko looked smaller and younger than Max was used to from Ash's treecko, but the serious stare that it gave was similar. Then, it walked up to Max, who picked it up and set it on his shoulder.

Beside him, Danny had also released his new Pokémon. The mudkip was being scratched near the fin on its head, prompting content sounds from the small Pokémon. The scratches actually produced a squishy sound, indicative of a liquid layer just under its skin. Eventually, it would harden, creating a layer just underneath the blue skin that would isolate its internal organs from electrical harm. Of course, by that time, it'd be called a marshtomp.

A short and obviously fake cough caught the boys' attention. "Now that the fun part is over, it's time to get you all set up." The Professor walked to the side table, and the boys followed. "Pokédexes," he said, handing one to each of the new trainers, "and ten pokéballs for catching Pokémon." Several empty pokéballs were duly clipped to the magnetic strips on the boys' belts. Badge cases were also handed out and immediately put aside, to be put into the packs later.

Several items were still on the side table, and the Professor was reaching for one of them. It was a gift-wrapped item. "This is for you, Danny. It's from your Dad and I."

Danny quickly tore the wrapping paper off, revealing a factory sealed box with a picture of the newest model Pokénav printed on it. "No way," he exclaimed, and the remaining seal was quickly broken and the box opened, revealing a dark blue Pokénav. "Thank you!" Danny threw his arms around his uncle. The hug was readily returned. "Thank you, thank you so much."

The hugging over, Professor Birch reached for the second box-shaped item on the table. "This is for you, Max." He handed over a flat wooden box with a simple latch mechanism to keep it closed. Opening it revealed a blue-green evolutionary stone inside. "It's a Dawn Stone. It can be used to—"

"To evolve male kirlia to gallade?" Max interrupted. He knew that, but he had never even seen a Dawn Stone before. They were only really found in Sinnoh. "How..."

"Did I get one? Ash sent it to me last night," the Professor explained. "He won it in a local tournament, but he wanted you to have it."

Silence reigned for a bit. "Wow. Just… Wow," Max eventually said. He closed the box and put it down carefully. "This is… Wow."

"Max struck silent. Where's my camera?" Danny quipped. Max lightly shoved Danny. "Hey!"

A fake cough snapped their attention back to the adult in the room. "The last thing is for both of you," he said, holding out a flat envelope. "Who wants to open it?"

Danny took the envelope, opening it carefully and taking the sheets of paper inside. They were tickets for that day's ferry from Littleroot to Mossdeep, due to depart at 2pm. "I'll even take you to the port, if you want to."

The reply was that of two boys hugging and mumbling their gratitude.

The rest of the time in the lab was taken up by packing the new things and Danny testing the various functions of his Pokénav. The map was a lot more detailed than the map on Max's old trustworthy Pokénav, and the newer version had a weather application pre-installed. Overall, Danny was very happy with his new gadget.

There was a slight delay on the way to the port when a reporter for a local newspaper hailed the car when it left the compound. It turned out that he was the main writer for a 'new trainers' column, and an old acquaintance of the Professor because of that. Max and Danny spent about five minutes each answering several questions, and with a promise of sending the paper to their parents, the reporter left.

After a detour via an ice cream parlour, the Professor delivered the boys to the port with a fair amount of time to spare before boarding even started. "Well boys, this is where I leave you. You've got my number," he said with a glance aside at Danny's Pokénav, which hadn't left his hand in ages, "and I expect to hear from you often. Okay?" Two nods were given. "Well then, good luck on your journey."

Max and Danny went up to the desk to validate their tickets and settled in for waiting. They had a good view of the ship they would be taking, and they could see cars and a few lorries already driving into the ship's cargo space, and it wasn't too long before the first boarding call for passengers on foot was made. Max and Danny joined the queue, and soon struck up friendly conversation with a Sinnohan trainer a year or so older than the boys.

The queue slowly dwindled, and the boys found that their tickets were actually for a separate cabin, rather than a dormitory. The set-up was similar to the two-person rooms in Pokémon Centers, with a bunk bed, a small desk with two chairs and plenty of floor space for small Pokémon. There was a poster on the wall with the ship rules, and though the window couldn't be opened, it did give a nice view out of the ship's starboard side.

That night, Max and Danny sat at the desk while their Pokémon were eating some late dinner. Laid out before them was a map of the Hoenn region, with gym locations marked on the map. Nothing had changed since the time Max had gone around Hoenn with Ash, except that the ice-type gym was now open again. It was located two islands south-west from Izabe, but it had been closed because the old Gym Leader had quit when they were originally in the area. "We can go north or south from Izabe," Danny said, putting his finger on the map. "North means Mossdeep and the psychic-type gym, south means Fern Lagoon and the ice-type gym."

Max studied the map. "If we go south, we'd end up in... Sootopolis? Then back to Mossdeep or down to Giban for the poison gym?" He thought for a second. "That's a lot of boats."

"True," Danny said. "North we go to Lilycove and then to Fortree and Nightwind? Less boats, but a lot of walking to get to Fortree." Lilycove and Fortree were about 120 miles away from each other as the swellow flew, and the main routes twisted around the densely forested region that was found in that straight line.

Max wasn't opposed to a lot of walking, and he somehow persuaded Danny to take the northern route. From there, the later route was a lot easier to figure out as well, since they'd simply do a lap around the western part of Hoenn, hitting five other gyms on the way: fire, ground, rock, fighting and electric. Danny grumbled about having to hike, but the main alternative was walking around the dense forests in Hoenn's eastern half in high summer. That was something Max did not want to do again.

Mossdeep had barely changed since Max had last been there, though there was no shuttle to be launched this time. It also was the place of Max and Danny's first battle as a trainer. Both of them lost, Max's treecko losing out to a poochyena and Danny's mudkip losing a fight in the water against a totodile. The losses were to be expected, and both opponents were helpful at pointing out possible improvements once they learned it was the boys' first battle.

Starter Pokémon were bred to be raised easily, not to be superior to other Pokémon. Apart from tackling the opponent, which nearly every Pokémon could do, Max's treecko could only shoot a limited amount of seeds at its opponent, based on the amount of seedy fruits it had been fed. It could also absorb some energy through its fingers, but that required touch and the poochyena had been careful to not allow treecko to touch it long enough for that.

Danny's mudkip had the same problem, only with water instead of seeds. Danny had started working with his mudkip to let it use its hind legs to kick up mud, but that did not help when the battle was in the water. The totodile was more agile in the water and had a jaw it could, and did, use.

On top of that, teaching new moves required training and some experience with the actual moves before they could be used effectively in battle. Right now, Max and Danny barely knew their Pokémon from random wild ones, though they were rapidly correcting that.

By the time the duo left for Izabe, Thursday afternoon, Max had actually won his first battle with the help of treecko's Absorb move, and Danny's mudkip had been very close to beating a sluggish whismur until the pink Pokémon had lashed out with a defensive Uproar at close range.

Every journey began with small steps. They'd been told that many times, but now it actually meant something to them.

The first night sleeping in the wild felt good, even if Max's treecko was falling over with exhaustion after a guard shift that lasted all night.

They reached the Pokémon Center where Max and ralts had said goodbye around 4 o'clock, under a stormy sky crackling with static electricity and pent-up rain. Max wanted to go out to look for an hour or so, but Danny stopped him, afraid of bad weather. He ended up being proven right when the floodgates opened not long after, causing nigh-torrential rain to pour down for an hour amidst repeated, close, lightning strikes. At one point, the lightning hit a tree in view from the Center's lobby, a loud crack of thunder accompanying it, deafening some of the Pokémon with more sensitive hearing present in the lobby. When the torrential rain and thunderstorm were spent, the weather mellowed into a steady drizzle.

The sun had set, and Danny was reading and commenting rather unfavourably on an officialbrochure when his Pokénav suddenly started ringing. Max was close to it and saw that it wasn't Professor Birch calling. "Yes, who is this?" Danny asked when he had pressed the right button to accept the call.

"My name's Ash Ketchum. Is this Danny Birch?" came a voice Max knew well.

"Yeah. Looking for Max?"

"Kinda, yes. Is he around?"

"Yep!" Max said exuberantly. "Thank you for the Dawn Stone. It's great!"

"I wasn't using it, you could use it, so why should I keep it?" Ash said, and Max knew he'd be shrugging if it were face to face. "Did you find ralts yet?"

"We're at the Pokémon Center I last saw him, but the weather's shit." And wasn't that an understatement. The rain had just picked up again, clattering against the windows. "I'm not getting pneumonia to get him. He'll understand that."

Ash chuckled, recognising the callback in that statement. "Yeah, good point. Anyway, what I'm really calling you and everyone else for: I've got eight Sinnoh badges now."

"Really? So you're going to the Sinnoh League?" Max said. "Wait, when is that?"

"Officially, it starts June first," Ash replied. "But the screening rounds start a week before that. The final is on the 8th."

"Cool! Can't wait to watch you on TV again."

"If I make it to those rounds. Who knows. Perhaps I run into some guy with only Legendaries in the preliminaries."

Max and Danny laughed, and Ash joined them a moment after. "I'm sure you'll do your best anyway. Not like you haven't defeated them before, right?"

Danny shot Max a weird look at that. "Legendaries? You fought them?"

"Yeah, in the Kanto Battle Frontier. Articuno and the regis. Only won against articuno and regice, though." A burst of static shot through the room. "Sorry. Someone with a magnemite passing by. So Max, how have your first days as a real trainer been?"

Max and Danny told Ash about their uneventful trip and battles. In return, Ash shared some stories of his first few days as a trainer. Danny was amazed at Ash's problems with pikachu, and the way that Ash won the Boulder Badge had him in stitches. Max, who'd heard the story before, also couldn't resist laughing. It was just as funny the second time around.

Eventually, the talk wound down. "Right. One last thing before I hang up. Max, what's your Pokénav number? I never wrote it down." Max recited the number for Ash. "Thanks. Hope you find ralts."

"Thanks Ash," Max said. "Good luck reaching everyone else and give pikachu a hug for me."

"Pi-ka!" said Ash's starter, revealing that he'd been listening in. A hug was delivered, resulting in a content-sounding "Piiiiii..."

"Hug given," Ash reported. "Talk to you later!"

"So that's Ash," Danny said, putting the Pokénav on the night stand beside the bunk bed. "I like him. He's cool."

"Didn't you see him in the Ever Grande Conference? I know his match was on TV."

Danny gave a shrug as he searched his pack. "I was down with some nasty bug. Spent most of the day sleeping around that time." He straightened. "Come on, let's sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Now you're really sounding like your father," Max muttered, but ten minutes later, the lights in the room were out.

Max woke early, and Danny was woken up by Max soon after, and the search for the missing ralts was on even before the sun had managed to peek over the hill directly to the east of the Center. For five hours, they trudged over muddy paths, through wet undergrowth, and under trees with a habit of dripping cold water at the base of one's neck. Eventually, they set up lunch on a hillside path, close to where Max and ralts had been first accosted by Team Rocket.

As Max bit down on his second sandwich, a kirlia teleported in, and the flutters in Max's stomach reared their head like never before. Then, it – he – spoke. _"Hello, Max Maple. I was looking for you."_

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

" _For the last time, starter Pokémon have no discernible advantage or disadvantage compared to giving a starting trainer another Pokémon. We offer them because the starting types of Grass, Water and Fire each have immediate benefits for starting trainers. Grass-types are excellent food gatherers, and I'm sure you understand why fire and water are useful for trainers."_

Professor Oak, debating the merits of starter Pokémon in a radio talk show.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The journey begins properly. In this imagining, Hoenn and Sinnoh (and Unova, Kalos, and probably the as yet unnamed seventh region) all have a full set of Gyms including all types. (Kanto and Johto have the eight standard ones we know from their respective seasons/generations, and Dark and Fairy are in shared jurisdiction.) As such, they're skipping some Gyms that Ash did, notably the Petalburg Gym due to general awkwardness, and the Sootopolis Gym.

Updates from here on out should be weekly for the foreseeable future: the current buffer extends several chapters.


	3. Chapter 3: Memories

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

The boy his brother had been saved by had changed little in the past six seasons. The face was a bit less round, but the strange adornment resting on the boy's ears and nose was still present, and other visible features, discounting the second skin – 'clothing', the kirlia remembered – were similar to the point of easy recognition. When Max stood up, the kirlia saw that he was a bit taller, probably close to some of the smaller gardevoir in the congregation. Nervousness raced through the boy, bubbling like a lake's surface in rain, while hope skipped and jumped around, even after the kirlia had explained he was not the ralts they were looking for. Other emotions were drowned out in the deluge of the two.

The other boy was an unknown. He was not one of the three that had been with Max. There were no adornments on his face, and his hair was brown, not blue, and held up by something defying gravity, looking like nidoran spikes. Eyes similar to Max's in colouration judged the kirlia. He was tall: fully twice as tall as the kirlia, easily on par with most gardevoir. Within him, there was surprise, whirling like leaves, but also curiosity that made the kirlia remember his time as a ralts, and a measure of wonder intruded on it. Lastly, there was fervent hope: a wish for the outcome his friend wanted.

The boys had said a few things, but mostly to each other and the one additional question they had asked would be answered soon enough. It was inconsequential to reply, since they would soon find out.

He contacted his mother, as agreed upon, and immediately received an image of where she was: a lakeside well within his reach to teleport to. _"Take my arms,"_ he communicated, and the boys did so. Their grips were firm, but not so firm as to squeeze hard. The kirlia concentrated, gathering energy, and in a rush of psychic power, he propelled the triad forward, nigh-instantaneously leaving the mountain road behind for a grassy field.

Max's emotions shifted, the contact of his hand on the kirlia's arm amplifying the Pokémon's innate empathy. Recognition soared as he took in the location; surprise swept down when the kirlia saw Max's dark eyes dart over to the gardevoir gracefully moving up to the newcomers, even as she greeted them. From his other hand, he felt surprise mingle with awe before they both let go, instructed by his mother to sit down, even as she did so on a log.

The boys sat down, using an old tree formerly home to a nest of wurmple as their backrest. The kirlia remained standing, alert for any hostile Pokémon that might interrupt the conversation.

"Where is ralts?" Max asked, polite and far more curious than impatient or demanding.

The gardevoir answered, measured, her rich voice tightly controlled. _"The ralts you refer to, my son, is no longer here."_

Despite the kirlia's focus on their surroundings, he felt the emotional shift within the boys. Shock appeared like lightning, before dissipating as quick, leaving worry and fear, with hope vanishing in those quicksand-like emotions. "What do you mean?" Max asked, voice far less assured than it had been mere moments ago.

" _He was taken."_

Again, the kirlia acutely felt the humans' emotions shift. There had been a tiny sliver of hope, but his mother's answer extinguished that as effectively as a Hydro Pump would an Ember. Fear morphed into defeat, crushing and bitter, for Max, yet fear remained and blossomed into sympathy for the other boy. _"Taken by force, under two moons ago."_

"Taken by force?" the other boy asked. "Not... captured?" he added, pulling out a red and white spherical object the kirlia was familiar with.

" _No, Danny Birch,"_ the gardevoir said, the mention of the name evoking a small jolt of surprise, _"it was no capture by means of the containers you name pokéballs."_ The gardevoir rose. _"If you so desire, I can show you."_

Max did not hesitate to reply. "Yes, please," he said, standing up. Both his body and voice trembled ever so slightly, imperceptible but for the kirlia's attention to the reply. His friend – Danny – simultaneously asked a question about the possibility of showing a memory, but that was ignored.

The gardevoir advanced slowly, as did the kirlia. His mother lowered her arm, and the kirlia put his appendage on hers, concentrating on the memory as he had been shown it before. _"Then touch our arms and see."_

 **~~§~~§~~**

The memory was that of a rocky flat, close to where the kirlia had found his quarry. It was a short-lived locale, as a heart-rending sense of urgency and fear tore through the gardevoir providing the memory. She teleported, instinctively knowing where to go, to the boundary between a mountain and the forest.

In front of her, encased in a net seeping with some form of energy, was her youngest son: a ralts about two years old. Behind him, two humans were pulling the net in while three black quadruped Pokémon stood guard. They were taking her son!

Energy blossomed within her, and she launched a bolt of it, attempting to grab the net, but the energy splashed upon it harmlessly, sliding off like rain on leaves. Then, a jet of flame was sent her way, necessitating a teleport, but upon reappearing, a set of feet nearly immediately landed on her back, sending her sprawling and leaving a cold impression where the feet had landed. A third Pokémon, fur black and grey, dashed forward, teeth bared and intent on biting her.

She shifted a rock into the biting Pokémon's path, vacating her location moments later as another jet of flame sped towards her. A push outwards hurtled loose stone towards the horned houndoom sending flame at her, but the third Pokémon, black with yellow rings, sped through the wall unaffected, a ball of obsidian forming at its mouth.

Her perspective changed as she was teleported away from the impending attack by another gardevoir. Her companion created glowing green leaves, lashing out at the third Pokémon, which moved just enough to avoid most of them. She ignored that, intent on getting her son back. The houndoom stood in her way, launching a third jet of flame at her, but she took the flame and redirected it back at its origins, causing the houndoom to dash out of the way.

A rock, twice the size of the gardevoir, sent flying with nary a thought, slammed into the houndoom mid-dash, sending it flying back into a tree, the rock following after it, impacting again before a trail of red power dissolved her opponent. She turned her attention towards the humans, and sent a vicious horizontal arc at them, intent on sweeping them backwards.

It landed halfway up their body, but the arc slid off and continued onward, slightly uprooting a tree.

The left human let out a shrill whistle as something slammed into her back, unbalancing her and leaving a throbbing sore, but a second ball of obsidian missed her by half an arm, it too hitting the tree and sending splinters flying.

A second attempt at biting her by the black and grey Pokémon was thwarted by levitation of a branch on the ground, and a red flash appeared in her peripheral vision as she gathered the energy to bind their will to hers. The short delay cost her, as she unleashed the force at the same time as a net flew at her, the enslavement vanishing as it hit the enhanced rope.

And then it entangled her.

Cold. Biting, gnawing, searing, debilitating, draining, binding cold. She felt weak, unfocused, dazed. Pushing energy outwards did nothing. Above her, red power lanced. She tried to shift the net off physically, but it was heavy and she was so, so cold.

One of the humans asked whether they should take her or her companion, but the other dissuaded him. They left, running, footsteps quickly vanishing in the sounds of the forest. By the time she freed herself, blessed warmth flooding into her, there was no sign of them or her son. All that remained was her and her unconscious companion, who lay partially buried, though not severely injured.

 **~~§~~§~~**

The memory faded, and though no time had passed, the surrounding air still felt different, as it always did after a sharing. Awe and sorrow, unequally split, permeated the kirlia's senses as the boys sat down, processing what they had seen. Max's sorrow was mainly internal, broken shards piercing, body heaving, whereas Danny's was external, wrapped in sympathy, mingling with awe at the sharing. It was he who broke the silence. "Are you..." he said, trailing off as his voice did not want to finish his thought.

The kirlia's mother smiled ruefully, and she put her arm on Danny's arm while meeting his eyes, causing a change of expression and emotion. _"I will recover, because I must. Do not worry for me. It has better targets."_ Her head turned slightly, and she used her other arm to touch Max's arm. _"Look at me, Max,"_ she commanded, and the boy raised his head, cheeks moist, eyes glistening, breath short and shallow, demeanour despondent.

The kirlia stepped forward to touch Max's other arm, which was tucked away against his side, only to recoil upon touching. It was excruciating, shattering to touch but a second, negativity overwhelming. It did elicit a response from the boy, and he gave a valiant but unsuccessful attempt at a grin. "'m sorry."

" _It does not matter."_

Max made a derisive sound. "Yes, it does."

" _Listen to me, Max,"_ the gardevoir said, causing Max's attention to shift towards her. _"My son yet remains alive, even after all this time. This I sense."_

A small ray of hope pierced the shroud of sorrow. "Really?"

" _Yes. Should it be destiny that you and he meet, then you will,"_ she said confidently, and kirlia felt some hope settle, though it was but a seedling amongst ancient trees. _"And now, I shall return you to where you started this morning. It is by far the best place for you. Take my arm."_

The boys took the gardevoir's arm, and they teleported away, the kirlia staying in wait. It was not long before his mother returned. _"Will they be okay?"_ the kirlia wondered.

" _The other boy, Danny, certainly. He was not as invested. Max... Possibly. His mind is in turmoil, and time might heal or fester that. He has seen much for someone his age, that I could tell, but this was personal, affecting him much more than anything he has ever experienced before. He feels like his dream was torn asunder, his hopes shattered and burned and times that could have been, erased."_

" _But you said you felt..."_

" _That your brother is alive?"_ his mother interrupted. _"Yes, I do, my son. However, I do not know where he is. He could be elsewhere on this island, or he could be far away to the south and west, where they came from, or anywhere in between. There is no way of finding him. Any meeting would be truly preordained."_

 **~~§~~§~~**

The gardevoir teleported away, leaving Danny and Max on the road, directly in front of the two-story Pokémon Center. Danny immediately started walking to the doors, coming close enough to them to trigger the sensor that automatically opened the doors before he noticed Max hadn't followed.

His friend was staring at a spot, not far from where they'd landed. Danny couldn't see anything special about it, but then Max convulsed, forcing him to his knees. A moment later, he threw up, vomit splattering on stone, once, twice, three times.

Danny couldn't move. There'd been a first aid class, but they didn't cover this. More vomit and more shaking, and Danny finally found his voice. "Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!"

The nurse came running from the nearby desk, alerted by Danny's cries. There were no questions asked; she walked up to Max and started muttering something that Danny couldn't understand from where he was standing. Before he could decide to walk back, Nurse Joy helped Max to a standing position, which he held, despite a slight tremble.

Danny hurried back over, ducking slightly and slinging Max's arm over his pack and shoulder, prompting Max to turn his head slightly. He looked terrible. His face was pale, there was a small trail of vomit at the corner of his mouth and his eyes were wet with tears that hadn't made it down his cheeks.

Nurse Joy led the way into the Center, and the duo followed her into a room marked as off-limits for anyone unauthorised. It was a lounge like the one at Danny's old school, but with more comfortable chairs, and the nurse offered an old-fashioned armchair for Max to sit in. Danny helped him there, taking off his friend's small backpack as he did.

Nurse Joy gave Max a glass of water and told him to drink small sips and to stay put before instructing Danny to come with her. He put his own backpack on the ground, following her, hearing a few vague sounds from the room he had just left as they walked to the lobby of the Center. They were the only ones present. "What happened?" she asked. "Did something go wrong?"

"The ralts we were looking for was... gone."

The nurse opposite him let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "Captured?"

"Taken. Poachers, I think," Danny answered after thinking about what to call the men in black suits. "They had this net that disabled all psychic power. Like a dark-type net."

"And you got away?"

"Oh, no, no. It was a memory of the ralts's mother and it happened..." Danny corrected, trying to remember how long ago it was, "'under two moons ago.'"

"Okay." The nurse walked over to the desk, Danny following, and took a strip of something from a cupboard, tearing off part of it. She handed the part to Danny, who found that it contained two tablets. "Max should take one before bed tonight. It's concentrated butterfree sleeping powder to let him get a good night's rest." She turned, making to move towards the Pokémon infirmary.

"Wait!" Danny exclaimed, stopping her. "Why did he throw up? He was fine this morning. Teleports never hurt him, too. Why are you leaving him alone?"

Nurse Joy turned around, stopping in front of Danny, and put her right hand under Danny's opened left hand, gently closing it. "He is grieving, Danny. That's why he threw up. He doesn't need me. He needs you. Be there for him. Listen. Be his friend. Can you do that?"

That made a lot of sense. Parts of it anyway. "Sure. I think," Danny said, unsure how he could help exactly, but determined to do his best. "And if I have a question?"

"You can ask me," Nurse Joy said, smiling kindly. "Tonight, after Max is sleeping. Now go to him, okay?"

Max had cleaned himself up a bit while Danny was with Nurse Joy, and his glass of water was emptier than it had been, too. He still looked pale, but not as bad as earlier. "Hey," he said, softly, after Danny entered, the door closing automatically.

"Hey. Feeling better?"

Max made a wobbly movement with his hand. "A bit. Don't feel like throwing up now." His voice sounded raw.

"That's good." Danny pulled a chair over, letting his mudkip come out of its pokéball. He absently scratched its head, the repetitive motion feeling familiar and calming. Max watched passively. "Come on. Let treecko out. Blame me if we're not allowed to," Danny said, winking.

"Okay," Max said, releasing treecko. The small grass-type took one look at Max before climbing up to his shoulder to paw at Max's glasses. When Max removed them, the green Pokémon gently wiped Max's eyes, crying out in satisfaction when it had cleaned both. "What is it, treecko?" Max asked, and the treecko then mimed wiping eyes with a big smile on its face before imitating tears falling down, followed by emphatic shaking of its head. "I shouldn't cry?" A nod. "Thanks treecko."

The treecko smiled, and jumped into Max's lap, snuggling against the boy's stomach and making content sounds, more so when Max gently started stroking its back.

They sat in that room for a long time. Danny could've checked how long exactly, but the he didn't want to break the silence that much by checking the Pokénav that didn't have a mute button. He did break the silence at times, exchanging words with Max. The replies were soft-spoken, and conversation always stopped after four or five sentences. Sounds from outside filtered in, but never close.

Just as Danny was about to ask another question, the door opened with a creak, revealing Nurse Joy. "Hey Max," she said, causing a head to look up, "are you feeling better now?"

"Kinda. Thanks for the water. It helped."

"Good to know." She smiled, but Max didn't return it. "Now, you can stay here, or you can go back to your room. Both are okay, but it's quiet now and it won't be in an hour," she explained. "Whichever one you pick, I'll make sure there's some light food for you for dinner, so you don't upset your stomach."

"Let's go back, Max," Danny added. "We have to sleep in our beds, and if it's quiet now, that's better."

"Yeah. Good idea." Both boys rose, the treecko on Max's stomach effortlessly landing on the tiled floor before climbing to Max's shoulder, where it stayed for a few seconds before hanging on for dear life as Max shook his right leg violently. "Sorry, leg sleeping," Max explained as he saw Danny's startled look.

Max made to lift his backpack, but Danny grabbed the other boy's wrist, shaking his head no. "I'll get that after we're in our room, okay." Max nodded in acceptance, and Nurse Joy led them out into the main lobby, which was fairly quiet. Danny saw a snorunt hopping on one of the bouncier couches, and he heard a nidoran cry out from somewhere, but it was nowhere near the chaotically cosy lobby that they'd been in the night before. Neither of them noticed the boys passing through, and when they entered their room, a glance at the clock revealed it was nearing five.

Nurse Joy was waiting in the corridor. She was doing something on the bulletin board, but when Danny closed the door, she immediately turned towards him. "How is he really?" she asked, even as they set off at a brisk pace.

"Quiet. I had to look to see if he was still there a few times. He seems okay enough when you look at him, but when he talks, it's..." Danny trailed off, lost for words. "Not Max."

"That's normal. Grief does strange things to us all," Nurse Joy stated as the door to the main lobby opened for her. "Just keep on doing what you're doing, and I'll inform the other Joys."

"Okay. Just... one thing," Danny said, hesitating in front of the nurse's desk. "Why did he throw up outside? He didn't when we were..."

"It's just a memory. He said goodbye to that ralts in that driveway. So when he saw the driveway..."

"It reminded him of ralts and made him throw up," Danny finished, feeling a bit proud and a lot less confused.

"Yes. Now go. Get that backpack before Max thinks you got yourself frozen in the lobby," Nurse Joy quipped. There'd been an overeager dewgong night before, and its trainer had ended up with his legs in a block of ice.

Danny's return into the room they shared coincided with the sound of a shower turning on. Danny put his cargo down close to his own travel pack, which had been opened, some of the cloth used to set up camps in the wild partially hanging out of it. He had a good idea of what Max had taken, and he stuck his head into the en-suite bathroom, closing his eyes. "Max, did you take one of my towels?" The reply was nearly inaudible over the sound of water splashing down. "I'll take one of yours then!" he replied before exiting the bathroom.

That night, after Max had taken the sleeping tablet, Danny placed a call. "Littleroot Pokém... Hello Danny!" his uncle interrupted his own greeting when he saw Danny's face for the first time in five days. "How have you been? Did you make it to Izabe safely?"

"Hey Uncle. We're on Izabe, yeah," Danny replied, somewhat flatly. "Can you get Max's parents in the call?"

"Sure. Give me a minute to set things up. You go get Max," his uncle said, before reaching forward to press a button that apparently put the call on hold, if the message on the screen was true. Danny stayed put, and the screen soon showed both the Hoenn Pokémon Professor and the Petalburg City Gym Leader. "All set up. Should we wait for Max?"

Danny took a deep breath. "No. He's sleeping," he said, which led to some surprised looks. "It... today was..." he tried to state, but something was constricting his throat, and when he tried to clear it, it felt dry as dirt.

"Easy Danny," Max's father said. "Take a deep breath and hold it. That's good. You have anything to drink?" Danny showed the mug of hot chocolate that he'd grabbed before coming to the video phone. "Good. Drink some of that." Danny did so, and when he put the mug back down, the Gym Leader spoke up again. "Something went wrong?"

"Yeah. Went looking for Max's ralts this morning, but..." Danny broke off, unable to say the words he'd said to Nurse Joy earlier. He took another sip of his drink, and the adults on the other side waited patiently. Both of them were frowning. "He... He was taken by poachers."

Max's father muttered a choice oath under his breath, one that Danny had heard spoken once before. The boy that had said it ended up with two hundred lines. Danny's uncle knocked him out of his memories. "How do you know it was poachers? Did you see it happen?"

"We... we met ralts's mother. She showed us what happened. Ralts got taken and the gardevoir couldn't stop it."

"But wouldn't a ralts just teleport away?" Max's mother said, sitting down next to her husband. "I know Max said he teleported away when they first met."

"Not if they tranquillised him, or negated that power," Danny's uncle stated. "Did you see anything in that memory, Danny?"

"There was this net. It felt cold, and all the attacks just couldn't hit it, even the powerful ones. The gardevoir got hit by it and it just... drained everything."

Max's parents looked confused, but Professor Birch nodded. "It's a net interwoven with dark-type Pokémon hairs, often mightyena or absol hair. It's a lot like using growlithe or flareon fur for heat-resistant coats."

"Right," Norman said, one hand holding his wife close. "And Max..." he added, letting a silence fall.

"Is grieving, Nurse Joy said." Danny filled in the silence. "Spent most of the afternoon in a room in silence."

Norman frowned, while Caroline beside him looked unsure. "Nurse Joy probably said you should be there with him, right?" he asked, and Danny could only nod. It was true, but he didn't know where this was going. "I'm sure Max appreciated it a lot, but take it from me: Max is going to want to be alone."

"Huh?" Danny did not follow. "But Nurse Joy..."

"Nurse Joy means well, Danny," Caroline interjected gently, "but people deal with things differently. Max always runs away someplace when things really don't go his way." She smiled. "You should ask him what he did when Ash beat his father."

"You did nothing wrong." Norman took over the conversation again. "You stuck with my son, and I know he appreciates that. It's all you could do. But tomorrow, try giving him some room. You can look in on him every hour or so, that's okay, but he'll feel a lot better."

"So he... just stays in our room all day?"

"Or use that room you stayed in this afternoon, if Nurse Joy agrees," Norman suggested.

"Right. I'll ask Nurse Joy about that."

"Do that." Norman said as a bell in the background rang. Danny had heard that bell before: it meant someone was looking to fight the Gym Leader. "Duty calls. Danny, thank you for being there for Max. We'll talk the day after tomorrow."

The connection to Petalburg was broken, leaving only Danny and his uncle. They spent another five minutes talking about normal things, but Danny's thoughts kept drifting to what he'd been told, and the conversation soon ended, leaving Danny to go straight to bed after asking Nurse Joy about using the same room tomorrow. She saw no problem with it, and would tell the other nurses to steer Max there.

As Danny pulled the covers over his head, lying on the top half of the bunk bed with a silently sleeping Max in the bottom bed, he thought about the way their Pokémon journey had started. It had all looked so bright and good, but now, just five days after they had left, things had gone down the drain.

Hopefully, the future would be better.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Pokémon perceive things much like humans do, yet not. Many types, including, but not limited to, the Electric, Water, and Psychic type, have an affinity for their element. Indeed, this affinity is the reason why certain Electric-types, like magnemite and voltorb, are primarily found near power plants, as they sense the presence of their element. A similar case can be made for Ghost-types and cemeteries, as best exemplified in Hoenn's Mt. Pyre or various Pokémon Towers. These affinities are not a mere addendum to their senses, but rather an extra sense that humans lack._

From: Sense and Perception: a Pokémon's Perspective.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** It was never going to be as easy as making a trip to Izabe. The best laid plans often go awry, after all.


	4. Chapter 4: Acquisitions

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

It was the fourth weekend in June, and all over Hoenn, tournaments and festivities celebrating the start of summer were taking place. Some were Contests, others had no Pokémon element at all, but Max and Danny naturally gravitated towards a battle tournament, prompting them to sign up for the junior division in the Pyreflow Town tournament.

Pyreflow Town was as big as Littleroot Town, where they'd left, now a little over three months ago, but that was where similarities ended. Pyreflow existed in the shadow of Hoenn's most famous and dangerous mountain: Mt. Chimney. The volcano had not spewed forth ash and flame since before the boys had been born, and its proximity meant excellent ground to use for agriculture. Many a field – trees bearing fruit, crops yielding vegetables on them – could be found in and around the town.

The junior division of the tournament was open only to trainers with under a year of experience and less than either six badges or four ribbons. It was a simple single elimination tournament, two Pokémon aside, with about thirty beginning trainers participating. They ranged from the true beginners to those with some actual experience under their belt, and Max and Danny liked to think they belonged in the latter group by now.

After the failed attempt at finding ralts, they had stayed on Izabe for a week and a half more, catching one Pokémon each. Danny had picked up a snorunt, as not quite as playful as Ash's snorunt, and Max had stumbled over an injured baltoy, which had wanted to join Max after they nursed it back to health.

The similarities had been strong enough that Max had nearly rejected the baltoy's offer, but for Danny's insistence that he shouldn't look a gift Pokémon in the mouth.

From Izabe, they went to Mossdeep, and then to Lilycove and the wild routes of the Hoenn mainland, where both of them encountered many more Pokémon, capturing two each before challenging their second gym in Fortree City. Max captured a nincada that had taken a shine to the food they were eating and an electrike, while Danny had made sure that the nightly Pokémon guard was never going to be a problem ever again by catching a duskull that was lurking around the camp they had set up twenty miles from Lilycove. He had also picked up a gulpin.

They were experienced enough to clean their opponents in the first two rounds right up, but Danny's run ended in the quarter-finals, as his mudkip and snorunt fell short of beating the opposing corphish and dustox. Max easily slipped into the final on the back of his treecko that kept Absorbing, with help from nincada and electrike.

Max's last opponent was the same that had beat Danny. Max had seen him at work in the other semi-final, and the dustox was going to be a problem. It had dispatched several Pokémon already, Danny's snorunt included, just by poisoning them and waiting for the poison to work, and Max's standard answer to airborne enemies – electrike – was not as good here. A quirk of nature had rendered dustox less susceptible to electrical currents than was to be expected of a flying Pokémon, though this came at the cost of not being able to fly as high or fast as its fully flying-type cousin beautifly.

Then again, it didn't really need that between the various powders and its limited Psychic arsenal.

Fortunately, Max knew a few tricks to get rid of nasty powders. Who'da thunk Team Rocket would be good for something.

Max and his opponent shook hands and took up position at opposite ends of the field. It was a standard size two arena, forty by twenty-five meters, which was pretty normal for smaller tournaments: small enough that most Pokémon could easily pick up their trainer's commands, yet big enough for evasive manoeuvres. Some rocks were scattered around the field, which were fair game to hide behind. Some geodude and nosepass helped keep the amount of rocks on the field up, renewing them between fights if they were smashed. The field's boundaries were indicated by a standard white line. Landing outside the arena counted as a loss by ring-out.

Both trainers took a pokéball and released their Pokémon. On one side of the field, a small, green Pokémon with yellow markings took the field, immediately darting to and fro to further charge its fur. Under normal circumstances, the fur would be charged fully at the start of battle, but the electrike had been forced to spend most of its electricity in the previous match. On the other side, a stocky blue-grey Pokémon appeared, flexing its muscles before darting behind one of the rocks.

Machop were strong Pokémon, if they could get a hit in, and electrike was light enough to be susceptible to a ring-out.

The referee signalled the start of the fight, and the opposing machop immediately smashed the rock it had been hiding behind, sending up a screen of dust, partially obscuring the view. Moments later, rocks came pelting from the dust cloud, all striking places the electric-type had occupied moments earlier.

None hit, and as electrike moved closer to the cloud, Max saw arcs of electricity bleed off as the dust particles came close to the charged fur. A Thunder Wave sent into the cloud encountered a thrown rock, and though the rock was not big enough to flat out stop the current, it weakened the electricity enough for the machop to shrug off the attack.

It also distracted machop long enough for electrike to ram itself head-first into the machop's upper torso, and the canine Pokémon was the first to recover, darting away and avoiding the machop's arm coming down on it.

The other trainer, recognising electrike's ranged advantage should it get to build up more electricity, barked an order, sending machop running to one of the other, few, remaining rocks on the field. Electrike ran in front of it, abandoning its position when the machop attempted to lunge. The blue Pokémon missed, leaving it prone on the ground.

"Jump on its back!" Max ordered, and electrike obeyed, whirling on the spot and jumping, aiming to land on the machop's back. The other Pokémon had recovered quickly, however, leading to electrike landing on its shoulders, barely hanging on as one paw slung itself over the machop's collarbone.

Good enough. "Thunder Wave!" Electrike released the attack and leapt off.

The machop shook as electricity ran through its muscles, forcing fists to close, legs giving way as it sought a way to discharge the current running through its body. Its trainer ordered it to swing with its right hand, but the muscles wouldn't obey, allowing electrike to tackle it down to the ground. The green Pokémon jumped on the machop, attempting to bite down on some available limb.

A flailed swing hit electrike hard enough to force it off the machop, which managed to hoist itself into a standing position. The paralytic effect of the electric charge had worn off, but the damage had been dealt. Max grinned. Time to move in. "Tackle!"

The machop tried sweeping the electrike's legs, but the Lightning Pokémon jumped over the attack, ramming itself right into machop's face. Both fell to the ground, and machop was too dazed to remove the electrike from its face before it was shocked once more.

All struggle the machop put up ceased, and the referee ruled a knock-out. Quicker than Max was expecting, but it had been a long day.

There was some scattered applause from the side as electrike ran back towards Max. Up close, Max was able to see a slight discolouration on the electrike's stomach, coinciding with where the machop had managed to hit it. It seemed fine, however, and they waited for the other trainer to release his second Pokémon.

It was, as Max had hoped, the dustox, and he smiled, knowing that his strategy was yet intact. He ordered electrike forward, imitating the cautious advance that had worked against the machop.

The dustox whipped up an unfocused Gust attack, which sent dust from all over the field flying. Like machop, it hid behind the cloud, but this time, the opponent was barely visible. Electrike's electricity was also useless, because it would just bleed off into the cloud. Likewise, the powders dustox were known for were also far less effective in the situation, but unlike electrike, the dustox had a valid alternate way of attacking.

A multi-coloured beam streaked towards electrike, barely missing it, and Max ordered electrike forward in an evasive pattern. It obeyed, nearly disappearing in the dust, which lit up every time a Psybeam narrowly missed the agile Pokémon.

When the dust had nearly settled, electrike jumped up, intent on bridging the few feet that divided it from its airborne foe and bringing it down to the ground. In that, it succeeded, but while the dustox was forced down, electrike was also forced to inhale a whiff of purple spores.

The dustox was quick to push psychic energy outwards, both for pushing the electrike back several meters and for lifting itself back up into the air. More waves of purple spores soon followed.

Electrike, at Max's order, tried to fry the spores with a Thunder Wave, but the lack of electricity from prolonged fighting and the dust meant it could not maintain the attack, and more poison made its way into the Pokémon's system. It collapsed, and the battle was tied once more.

Max returned electrike to its pokéball and sent out his next Pokémon without hesitation. Out came the nearly fully fresh baltoy that had only been used to wipe the floor with an opponent in the first round.

The baltoy's eye slit glowed a vivid blue as it started spinning, sending dust high up into the sky in an imitation of a Sandstorm move. Unlike the earlier dust storms, this affected the whole field, and while baltoy was well suited towards shrugging off the small particles with its hard skin, the enemy dustox was not.

The opponent reacted as Max and Danny had guessed he would, by ordering a Gust to clear away the dust before probably sending some powder at the baltoy.

The powder never made it to the levitating Pokémon, which hovered unwaveringly in the winds, sending out unseen tendrils of psychic energy even as it weathered the attack. The energy connected, and the dustox suddenly found itself forced down onto the ground for the second time in the match. Again, it attempted to lift itself up by using its own Confusion to quickly rise, but the baltoy was quicker. It landed on the ground, a rock erupting from the ground underneath dustox moments later, scoring a solid hit.

There was one valiant last effort by the dustox as its trainer ordered it to release Sleep Powder, intending to use the soporific pollen as the end of the match.

It was not to be, as baltoy was too strong, whipping up another sandstorm, diluting the potency of the powder to the point of uselessness. It moved in for another attack, levitating some rocks before hurtling them at the moth.

The rocks hit the ground as the trainer returned the dustox. Barriers fell, the referee held out a single red flag in Max's direction and the boy let out a happy cry. He had won a tournament!

The first place prize, apart from the obligatory trophy – _that_ was getting sent home via pelipper post - consisted of two sets of gloves, resistant to fire and electricity respectively, as well as a collection of simple Pokémon medicine and a small monetary prize. All of them were welcome, even if the prize for the main tournament would have been better. Then again, Max had no Pokémon that evolved via an evolutionary stone.

 **~~§~~§~~**

The Pokémon Center was overflowing with trainers due to the tournament, meaning that Max and Danny would have an extra person sleeping in their room overnight. They'd known that beforehand, but it still came as a small surprise to see an inflatable bed on the floor when they entered their room after celebrating Max's win with dinner at a restaurant. A bigger surprise was the identity of the trainer they had to share with.

"Oh. Heya Max and... Danny?" Max's opponent from the final match said as he exited the bathroom and saw who he was sharing with. There was a slight accent to his words that Max couldn't really place. "Gee, I wasn't expecting you two."

"Yeah, it's weird," Danny said as he walked over to the lower bunk. "What was your name again? I'm not sure..."

"It's Paul." The older boy hopped on to the side of the solid wooden desk, letting his feet dangle. "Great match Max. That baltoy killed me. Where you got it?"

"Izabe Island. We," Max said, including Danny with a gesture in his general direction, "thought you'd use that dustox again, so we planned for it."

"So you ganged up on me?" Paul asked, causing Max to pause and look at him awkwardly. "Oh, don't do that. Two know more than one, my Da always says. If you're out together, you work together."

"Are you travelling with someone?" Danny asked.

Paul's fingers beat a tune on the wood of the desk. "Sure do. Twin sister's a few rooms over. She's a Coordinator, I'm a trainer. Got five badges." A badge case came out of the rear pocket of his jeans, and opening it showed the Stone, Knuckle, Dynamo and Heat Badges, as well as one Max didn't recognise right away. It was flat on the bottom, but the top side curved away from the bottom, making it look a bit like a hill.

Max tried to remember the badge silhouettes in the _Hoenn Trainer's Guide,_ but before he could identify it that way, he had a brainwave. "Wait, that's the Toxic Badge?" That made the shape a muk silhouette.

"Yep. My aunt lives there, so we paid her a visit and I got a badge. Took a lot of time, but that's cool." The badge case disappeared in the rear pocket again. "What badges you got?" Danny was close to his badge case, and he threw it across the room, Paul catching it effortlessly. "That's... Mind, Feather and Shadow? Where's the rest?"

"We only have three," Max said. "We're on our way to Lavaridge for the fourth."

Paul let loose an appreciative whistle. "Nice going. Next you'll tell me you've only got like four months of experience." Max's face acquired a blush, and Paul spotted it. "Wait, don't tell me..."

"Just over three," Max admitted, causing Paul to send him a look that dripped with disbelief. "No, really. Look," he added, taking his own Pokédex out of his pocket and handing it to Paul, who expertly navigated to the trainer data screen. "We left two days after my birthday. Danny's a month older."

Paul studied the data for a moment longer, before handing the Pokédex back to Max. "You're the Petalburg Gym Leader's son, aren't ya?"

"Uhuh."

Paul shrugged. "That explains why I lost, then. You're loads more experienced," he said, slightly resigned.

Max opened his mouth to correct Paul, but closed it after a second, remembering that he did have a ton of experience, just not from where Paul said it came from.

"At least you beat me," Danny interjected as he searched for something in his pack, pulling out a towel moments later. "Professor Birch is my uncle, and I spent loads of time at his lab when I was a kid. Experience can beat knowledge. Max just got lucky you sent out dustox. Baltoy is a really good counter for it."

Paul smiled. "True. I was expecting treecko or nincada. They would've been easy to beat." Something occurred to him, making him frown. "So all you have is baltoy, treecko, nincada and electrike?" Max gave a nod. "That's not a good team for Flannery."

Max sat down on the bottom bed as Danny took towel and clothing into the adjacent bathroom, locking the door moments later. "Yeah. Gonna be hard, but we can do it. Nincada's pretty close to evolving I think. That'll be a big help."

"How do you know that?"

"Well..." Max enlarged one pokéball and released nincada onto his lap, immediately starting to scratch its head. "See the wings?" Paul nodded. "They're a lot bigger than when I caught him, and there's a bit of red in them. That's a sign it's getting close to ninjask. They've got a pretty short evolution cycle, but you'll have to ask Danny about that."

"Nah, no need. My sister is gonna be happy to know this. She caught one last week. She's been thinking up weird contest moves with ninjask and her slowpoke all week."

"I feel ya."

Paul smirked. "I bet. Every time she was home?"

"More than that," Max replied truthfully. _Every other day._

Paul stretched while Max returned nincada. "Any Pokémon you really wanna catch, Max?"

"Not really. Just wait and see what I find, as long as my sister doesn't have it."

Paul nodded in understanding. "And Danny?"

"Wants a masquerain." Paul gave him a weird look. "I don't know either. Ask Danny why he likes them."

"Will do."

 **~~§~~§~~**

It was close to dinnertime the next day, up on the lower slopes of Mt. Chimney, when Danny suddenly found one part of his foot higher than the other. The sudden imbalance caused his ankle to turn awkwardly, sending him falling. "Ooowww."

Max hurried to Danny's side and helped him up, but before he could do more than that, an annoyed sound came from just behind the two boys. "Aaaarrrrrr."

The aron that Danny had tripped over launched itself at the two boys, but Max was quick enough to push Danny and himself out of the path of the steel-type's attack, though Danny let out a hiss as he did so. "Can you walk?"

"Probably," Danny said. "Better idea," he added, and Max saw him fling a pokéball. "Snorunt, Icy Wind!"

The attack caught the aron's attention, charging at the snorunt instead of the humans it had been aiming for, giving Max and Danny enough time to move away to avoid being hit by something outweighing them.

Danny's snorunt nimbly hopped onto a nearby rock, and while inertia carried the aron a few feet more, it blasted more chilly air and snow at its opponent. It wasn't enough to freeze the soil, warm as it was from day-round exposure to the summer sun, but the aron did have to shake off some snow. "Slow it down more, snorunt!"

"You want to capture it?" Max asked, and Danny nodded, keeping his eye on the aron, which had just taken another blast of ice and snow to the face. "Need electrike?"

"Good id—snorunt, jump!" Danny cried as the aron ran through a next wave of Icy Wind, one claw starting to glow. It hit the snorunt in the foot after the ice-type jumped too late, and the subsequent tumble left Danny's Pokémon at the mercy of the aron that immediately charged.

"Thunder Wave!" Max called out, and electrike released its stored static electricity, causing aron's muscles to lock up. It skid to a halt close to snorunt, who blasted it in the face with another Icy Wind, even as another wave of electricity ran through the aron again.

Danny threw a pokéball at the disabled aron, which immediately started struggling, limited by the paralysis, as the container converted it into white energy before sucking it in. The ball fell to the ground, shaking and gyrating on the ground, but it soon stopped, and a faint poof was heard. "Gotcha."

"Getting him to accept you is going to be fun," Max remarked drily as he returned electrike. "You have Cheri Berries?"

"Think so," Danny said as he took the pokéball from snorunt. "Thanks snorunt. You're great," Danny added, to excited chattering of the ice-type. He took a step, but stumbled as his right leg gave way partially. "Man, that hurts."

Max helped Danny over to the cliff face, where Danny opened his pack and started looking for the first aid kit, which he carried with him. It wasn't just Danny's ankle, but the scrapes on his left arm looked shallow.

Injuries were likely for trainers, which was why every region recommended travelling in groups for beginning trainers, who were most at risk of injuries and could use the least help from their Pokémon. A blaziken might be able to help support, or even carry, an injured trainer, but a torchic could not. Max's baltoy was able to move one of the boys around for about five to ten minutes with their cooperation, but after that, it tired, and the other Pokémon lacked the strength to do more than pushing.

Danny quickly and efficiently cleaned the wound, using cloth and some water, while snorunt chilled a gel pack to put on its trainer's ankle. "You're going to have to do the bandaging on my arm, Max. You know I'm rubbish with my right hand."

"Sure." Max didn't spend two years on the road with Brock for nothing. He could apply a bandage. "Iodine, too?"

Danny hemmed. "Probably better. They're not deep, but we have iodine. Better use it."

"Better you than me." Max really, really didn't like getting iodine on his own wounds, but the antiseptic was great at doing what it was supposed to do. "There we go. One bandaged arm."

"Feels good enough," Danny said, bending his arm to test its mobility. His snorunt sidled up to him, and Danny rewarded it with a gentle rub on its back before taking his hand back. "Ideas for stopping aron? Don't want a second round."

"It's paralysed. Just give it a Cheri Berry and talk to it?"

Capturing Pokémon wasn't hard, but if you intended to train them, you needed to work with them. This, admittedly, was easier than it had been before the invention of mechanical pokéballs, since Pokémon captured in those were subjected to an 'obedience imprint', according to the official guides. It wasn't perfect, Max knew, but it helped bridge part of the gap between wild and trained Pokémon. The rest of the gap was usually closed by showing that you cared for the Pokémon, giving it food or healing it or something.

Of course, some Pokémon were just happy to join up. Max's baltoy and nincada were examples of that, and Danny's duskull hadn't been much of a problem either. Aron was the first outright hostile Pokémon they'd caught.

Max put a Cheri Berry down about five meters away from where they were and walked back, Danny releasing the newly caught aron as soon as Max was next to him.

The aron was still hindered by the paralysis, if the faint crackles were anything to go by, but it ignored the berry in front of it in favour of glaring at the duo. "It's okay, aron. The berry will heal you," Danny spoke, softly, trying to soothe his new Pokémon. "We won't harm you."

The aron stared for a bit longer before gobbling up the berry in one bite. The paralysis, which had been diminishing already, suddenly left the aron, and when next it looked at the duo, it was markedly less hostile, though the approach was slow.

"That's it. I've got some more food if you want it," Danny said, holding out some food in his right hand, lowering the left hand, which was holding the pokéball, slowly and deliberately. "Did you like the berry? This is spicy too."

It took a minute or so, but the aron slowly crept up to the pair, amidst soft encouragement by Danny. Then, when it was close enough to eat the food, the aron took a careful and deliberate bite, swiping the food from Danny's hand. Happy grumblings followed, and when all the food had been swallowed, it looked at Danny and then gently nuzzled its nose into Danny's empty hand.

It tensed slightly when Danny used his other hand to touch the small spike on its back, but other than that, it was as happy a Pokémon as they had ever seen. There'd be no problem here.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Starting trainers should be able to treat small to medium injuries typically sustained during a trainer's journey. These include:  
Light burns  
Small to medium-sized gashes.  
Sprained ankles, wrists.  
Non-venomous __Pokémon bites._

 _Trainers should also know the symptoms and immediate treatment of:  
Sunstroke  
Frostbite  
Concussions_

From: First Aid Requirements: Starting Trainers.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The Shadow Badge Paul - no relation to Ash's rival, by the by - mentions is from the Hoenn Dark-type Gym.


	5. Chapter 5: Message

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

The last light of the waxing moon shone on a rocky plateau, high in the mountainous Hoenn north-west quadrant, Two trainers sat on the plateau's edge, legs dangling, bathed in the moonlight, and two Pokémon, vastly different in size, sat nearby as well. Below them, close enough to be visible in daylight, yet far enough away that it would be more than a day's walk, lay Lavaridge Town. Small lights shone from street lamps and homes, indicating its position in the tableau below.

The left trainer, his face partially hidden by the hood of his cloak, spoke. "I am uncomfortable with enlisting two trainers as young as they are. Surely there are better, more experienced, _older_ trainers that could be of assistance."

"Probably," his compatriot stated, tapping his left heel on the cliff face. His face was not obscured by a hood, though a cap did cast a shadow on his forehead and eyes. "But nobody else I know is close to here, unless you want to wait a week for a boat or plane from Kanto and a teleport. Had you told me earlier, I could have contacted them. I'm doing the best I can."

"An error you have reminded me of more than once," was the reply. "But I see dissuading you is not an option. I'm not certain why I even tried. You're too stubborn." The other trainer made a noise of agreement, and so did the Pokémon present. "Have you written your note?"

"Yeah." A hand went into the vest, retrieving the paper. He held it out, and the other trainer grabbed it, a small light in his other hand. "Any good?"

"I can't make anything of it," came the admittance a minute later. "And by that metric, so should anyone not familiar with the event you refer to. In lieu of an encrypted message, this will have to do." The hooded trainer stood up, patting his Pokémon, which stood close to two heads taller than its trainer, once. "I think we've covered everything. If you find anything, contact me. I'll be at most an hour's flight away," he said, holding out the note he had taken earlier.

The writer took the note back, sticking it in his vest pocket before hoisting his legs back onto solid ground. He stood up, prompting the smaller of the two Pokémon present to come stand by his feet. "Yeah, will do."

The trainers shook hands before one climbed on the back of his Pokémon. "One more question. Why did you come here? Why train with him?"

"He asked me to. One last time, he said."

"I see." The mounted trainer whispered something to his Pokémon. Then, with mighty wing beats, they lifted off from the ground, soon vanishing from sight as they flew south. The other trainer released one Pokémon, ordering it to keep guard while he slept. The Pokémon obeyed as it tucked its legs underneath it, but no wild Pokémon disturbed his trainer or the other, small, Pokémon as they slept under the moonlit sky.

 **~~§~~§~~**

When Max and Danny arrived at the Lavaridge Gym, three days after aron was added to Danny's roster and twelve hours after the boys stumbled into the Pokémon Center in the deepening dusk, they were surprised to find the doors closed, with a laminated note stuck to the front door.

 _Dear trainers,_

 _Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be gone until June 29_ _th_ _. Battles will resume on June 30_ _th_ _by order of appointment. Please register your name and Pokédex ID at the Pokémon Center._

 _Flannery, Lavaridge Gym Leader, June 23_ _rd_ _._

Danny summed up the boys' feelings. "Well, bummer."

Three days later, Max and Danny walked up to the Gym, their Pokémon rested, their minds set towards the sole goal of beating Flannery and her fire-types. Since Max had gone first for the Shadow Badge, it was now Danny's turn to fight the Gym Leader first. He'd be Flannery's fourth opponent of the day, and at least one trainer had probably beaten Flannery, judging by the happy smile on her face as she exited the complex when they entered.

Danny stopped just after they'd entered the complex. When Max stopped as well, turning to face Danny, he saw that his friend was looking around the surrounding rooftops as if he were searching for something. "Is something wrong?"

"Thought I heard something fly and land. Something heavy," Danny admitted.

"Probably one of the Gym Pokémon," Max reasoned. "C'mon, we have badges to win."

There was an audience for the match: a local primary school class had come in just after Max and Danny had, and they'd be watching her battle for some school excursion. Flannery told them that she fought 3v3 and that she wasn't allowed to swap out, while the challenger was, and that they'd be watching two matches in succession. The class looked appropriately excited.

It was a heated match, and Max was glad Flannery's arena included barriers maintained by several psychic-type Pokémon. Several of the Flamethrowers and other assorted fire-type attacks came close to hitting both battlers, as well as the audience, but all were redirected into open air as the fire splashed upon the convex shields. The heat was not redirected, though, making the bleachers a thoroughly uncomfortable place to sit between the fire and the blazing summer sun beating down on them.

Danny won, his duskull beating a slugma, nicknamed Mig, before losing to a young torkoal. The torkoal went on to beat gulpin as well. It had inhaled too much of gulpin's poisonous clouds, though, and mudkip was able to make short work of it, as well as Flannery's final Pokémon, which turned out to be a cyndaquil. Applause was duly given, and there was a short question and answer thing with the schoolchildren, and then it was Max's turn.

Barriers sprung up around Max, and he heard Flannery wish him good luck, even as they sent out their first Pokémon. Flannery led with a growlithe, while Max opted to go with baltoy. It was he who opened the offensive by ordering the levitating Pokémon to grab growlithe with its psychic powers.

Growlithe was having none of that, and at a sharp order by Flannery, it twisted away, returning fire with a series of glowing embers that managed to score a few hits before baltoy could bring up a barrier of psychic energy, red evaporating on a wall of nearly fluorescent blue.

The barrier dropped, but growlithe did not wait for Max to take the offensive again. It spewed forth fire, shaping the flame into a ball that surrounded it even as it started running, aiming to hit baltoy with the Flame Wheel attack.

Max grinned. He knew the perfect counter for the move. "Rock Tomb," he ordered, and the tip of baltoy's foot shone for a second before it slammed into the ground twice in short succession. The first rock that sprung up was half avoided by the growlithe: fur fell to the ground, torn off by one of the sharper edges of the rock. The flame wavered slightly. The second rock was a full hit, launching growlithe into the air before landing harshly, even as another attempt at grabbing it psychically was made.

A full-on, but narrow, Flamethrower forced baltoy to spin out of the way, descending rapidly with a foot glowing even as the growlithe tracked its target as fast as it could. Flame licked the top of the baltoy for a fraction of a second before a third rock sprung up, wide enough to split the flame, baltoy waiting behind it for the fire to stop.

Waiting was okay, because it provided time for baltoy to charge up its newest move. "Ancientpower!" Max ordered, and a white glow covered his Pokémon for a brief second before coalescing into a ball perched atop baltoy's arms. "Launch it at another rock!" he added when the fire stopped flowing across the field.

The second rock shattered into several smaller rocks, a lot of fragments, and dust. Rocks and fragments shot away from the point of impact, crashing into and clipping the growlithe multiple times. It had hid from baltoy near that rock, taking a moment to coat itself in flame once more before resuming the attack. It was a costly delay.

For a third time, Max called for a psychic attack, and this time, it connected. The growlithe struggled to get free, increasing its frantic movements as all four of its paws left the ground, but there was no escaping. Baltoy was careful to keep the furry Pokémon's mouth facing away from it as much as possible, and embers shot in desperation bounced off the barrier near Flannery as the fire-type was levitated higher and higher, slowly but steadily.

And then, baltoy slammed the growlithe into the ground, jaw hitting one of the larger pieces of rocky debris. Flannery called for her Pokémon to continue fighting, but it couldn't, and the referee ruled it knocked out.

Baltoy hadn't come off unscathed, Max saw as his Pokémon floated back. Its normal levitation was steady as anything, and movement was usually smooth and stable, yet now, the levitation wavered every so often, as if the powers that kept it floating slipped for a fraction of a second. Depending on the next Pokémon, Max thought it might be better to return baltoy to let it recover slightly.

Then, Flannery's second Pokémon took the field, and Max immediately signalled that he wanted to switch Pokémon. Only stupid luck or extremely skilled and experienced Pokémon could win when faced with type immunity, and Max had neither. Baltoy was returned, but replacing it was not an easy decision. Ninjask was stronger and faster, but electrike was not affected as much by fire, while treecko was straight out.

He opted for the bug-type, which caused some chattering to his side, where the class was seated. Some of the more knowledgeable children were educating their neighbours on why this was a bad idea, though one girl was loudly insisting that ninjask was a good Pokémon to use, "coz it's fast."

Max smirked when he heard that.

Flannery opened this round, ordering her second canine Pokémon of the fight to unleash a Flamethrower. The houndour gladly obliged as it ran forwards, closing the distance even as it expelled fire from its mouth, flame rippling forwards, seeking to engulf everything in its hot embrace.

Ninjask zipped out of the way of the fire, gathering speed as passed the houndour by on the right, one of its pincer-like forearms scratching the houndour on the tail as it went past fully, rising again, swerving left when the canine spun to adjust its flame.

The Flamethrower attack stopped, Flannery ordering another attack, but the ninjask slammed into the houndour's flank before it could be used. The bug-type's speed was reduced drastically as momentum was transferred from the ninjask into the lighter, albeit grounded, houndour, and the canine Pokémon was pushed sidewards, its claws saving it from going fully airborne and slamming into the shielding, instead merely skidding softly into it.

The houndour was on its feet nearly immediately. It expelled a toxic gas, vanishing in the thick smog even as half the field was obscured, and an attempt by ninjask to hit it from its right side failed, though the pass through the cloud did clear the Smog attack slightly.

Max heard soft, careful, pattering of feet as houndour constantly kept moving In the smoke. Flannery had used this strategy before, against Ash's pikachu, only then it was slugma, not the canine Pokémon. He grinned. They'd practised for this situation specifically, and as ninjask gathered more speed, Max ordered it to clear the smoke out.

The ninjask dove, pulling out of the dive inches above the ground. Dust kicked up in its wake as it sped into the smog, the velocity high enough to cause the smoke to disperse momentarily, before more smoke fled into the path it had taken. Upon reaching the end of the field, it shot upwards, dodging embers fired at it in the process and banking around the edges of the arena until it reached a point high enough. "Drop!"

And drop the ninjask did, aiming for a spot off the centre of the cloud. It was wise to do so, fire scorching the ground in that dead centre, but ninjask reached the low point of its arc safely before rapidly changing direction. The resulting small shock wave pushed enough smog away to fully uncover houndour. "Fury Cutter!"

Forearms glowed as ninjask banked once more, flipping over in mid-air to reach the houndour sooner. It dove through another Smog attack, but forearms raking the houndour's nose stopped the attack from covering the field again. The glow extended and ninjask turned, eager to press its advantage.

Houndour tried to stop the ninjask, but its desperate Ember did not visibly faze the bug-type, and the second fly-by of Fury Cutter slashed a furry back, prompting loud yelps of pain as houndour collapsed in the attack's wake.

"I forfeit houndour!" Flannery called across the field as she returned her Pokémon. "Time out!" she added, making the universal gesture for a time-out to emphasise her call.

Flannery walked over to a man that Max recognised as her grandfather, the old Lavaridge Gym Leader, and they started talking animatedly. As they did so, Max took a good look at his ninjask. There was one small visible spot of burnt insect hair, most likely the result of the last Ember attack, but it looked eager to continue.

It took a minute, but eventually, the former Gym Leader nodded, apparently agreeing with whatever Flannery had said, and the Gym Leader returned to her trainer area. "I underestimated you! Let's see you try this on for size!" Her third Pokémon entered the field, a small heat haze surrounding it. Several licks of flame shot from its red and yellow body as the magmar sunk into a ready stance.

Max's mind recalled the details he knew about magmar. Their body was incredibly hot, and Ash had fought one that could block electricity. They lived in volcanoes and used primarily fire and poison-type attacks. Like most Fire-types, they lacked solid defences, but made up for that with blazing offence. Of course, attacking it bodily was risky in and of itself.

The third round began, and both trainers ordered their Pokémon onwards. Magmar took the offensive, inhaling shortly before spewing out a round of embers, spread out as to catch the agile ninjask.

Max had ordered ninjask to lead off with Double Team, and though three of the four illusions were ruined by the projectiles, the real ninjask and one copy had avoided the embers entirely. They flew circles above the fire-type's head, careful not to go too close to the ground where magmar could more easily reach them.

A ball of fire gathered in front of magmar's beak, before streaking off into the sky in different directions, attempting to hit ninjask in mid-flight. The last copy faltered as fire hit it, but the real ninjask remained untouched, though it was a close thing.

The bug-type dove into an attack, forearms glowing in a Fury Cutter, and while magmar made to inhale once more, ninjask unleashed an unholy Screech that took magmar by surprise. No fire left its beak, and the Fury Cutter scored a hit when ninjask swiftly raced past magmar's belly while it was still recovering from the assault on its hearing.

Triumphantly, Max ordered another Fury Cutter, but magmar quickly cloaked itself in a layer of smog and moved out of the way. Ninjask was unable to hit magmar, but immediately banked and shot back into the smoke at top speed.

A soft thud rang across the pitch, along with cries of pain from both Pokémon. A second, louder, cry of pain rang out a few seconds later, and it was ninjask that cried out.

The reason for its distress soon became apparent as it was launched into the air with a vicious toss, wings still, body lightly smoking. Underneath it, the black smog suddenly lit up as a jet of flame shot up, its aim dead-on, engulfing the ninjask for two seconds before Max was able to hit the return mechanism on his pokéball. He vaguely heard something from his right, but he ignored it as he shrunk ninjask's pokéball and grabbed another.

Without hesitation, Max sent out his electrike. It was fully charged, wasting no time after the referee's signal to send a jolt of electricity at the fire-type, scoring a hit in the leg as the magmar moved left to dodge. Static crackled, but no paralysis occurred.

Magmar's retaliation consisted of a Flamethrower, which did nothing but heat up Max's area and obscure his view, electrike having sped out of the way. A second attack followed as Flannery ordered a round of Ember, but if they hit, they were not enough to deter Max's small electric-type.

More electricity tried to zap magmar, and once more, electrike scored a glancing hit. It was a powerful attacker, but the dodges were slow. Too slow. That was something Max could work with. "Keep it up!" Electricity peppered the fire-type, scoring more glancing hits. None were enough to induce even temporary paralysis, but it was not something magmar could keep up.

Flannery recognised the same thing and ordered magmar to hide itself in smog once again, which it did, before firing more flame at where electrike had been a few seconds before.

Fire and electricity shot back and forth as the two Pokémon traded attacks, the magmar presumably mixing in some smog as well, as the smokescreen did not diminish despite a minute passing. Only a few loose embers hit electrike, and Max had no idea if the magmar was hit in return.

Then, suddenly, electrike charged, a blue aura surrounding it as it sped into the cloud. The Spark attack drove into magmar, nearly pushing it into the right-hand barrier, and electrike jolted away before magmar could Fire Punch it. The green Pokémon had not come off unscathed, but the burn on its snout did not appear to affect it in any way as it returned to firing electric attacks at magmar.

One hand held to its belly, the magmar returned fire, opting to try to block with embers rather than dodge. It worked well enough, as the embers drained the current flying at magmar, and some also forced the small canine Pokémon to keep moving.

Electrike circled around magmar as the fire-type took up position about halfway into Flannery's half of the arena, periodically launching more electricity. Every time the electricity arced in magmar's direction, the fire-type was quick to launch embers at electrike, which were nearly all dodged by the green and yellow Pokémon. Barely any electricity made it over to magmar either, creating a stalemate: the Gym Leader's ace having successfully negated its opponent's speed advantage.

Voltage ran out long before a fire-type's flame would, and electrike began showing small cues of tiring out, even as the magmar's inactivity allowed it to recuperate slightly. It was the advantage of the defender, to wait and expend less energy until the opponent tired. Fire-types weren't usually a good contender for defending, the element's destructiveness lending itself to attacking, but even makeshift defending worked.

Max, however, had one more Pokémon left. He just needed to leverage that. "Spark!" he ordered. "Aim for its belly!"

The belly was a weakness, judging by the protective hand magmar had held in front of it ever since taking up the defender's role. Electrike shot towards it, dodging embers and jets of flame as it put electric charges into its legs, allowing for seemingly supernatural turns. One last burst of flame hit, but it was too late, and the electric-type rammed into the magmar.

Magmar was prepared, and a small adjustment of its footing mitigated some of the damage as it worked with the electrike's momentum instead of against it, but even so, it was hard to ignore something ramming itself into your gut. It did stay upright and conscious, which was more than could be said for electrike.

"Electrike is knocked out! The score is now two each," the referee declared as Max switched Pokémon. "This match between the Gym Leader's magmar and the challenger's baltoy will decide who wins."

Baltoy was floating more steadily than before, its powers partially recovered by the rest it had been afforded. Magmar was not as lucky: even from a distance, Max could see the fire-type breathing heavily. Physical endurance was not magmar's territory, not that they needed it in their usual habitat.

"Overheat!" Flannery ordered the instant she was allowed to.

Magmar's body lit up, its yellow parts gaining an orange tint and the red turning brighter, before destruction spewed forth from its beak. White fire, surrounded by orange lints, streaked towards baltoy, intent on ending the match in one shot.

Baltoy required no order to dodge out of the way, which was all Max saw before his vision was impaired by blinding fire forcing itself on the barrier in front of him. Scorching heat forced Max backwards, eyes closed, but the heat vanished before Max could take a third step.

He opened his eyes, and a wave of sound assaulted him as a rock was obliterated, red hot remnants scattering themselves around the middle of the arena, far away from baltoy, but close to magmar. It was a rock that had not even existed moments before.

Baltoy's Rock Tomb effectively stopped magmar's Overheat in its tracks, as the fire-type instinctively stopped to shield itself from debris raining down from the shattered rock.

Its instincts of shielding, not moving, cost it, as baltoy called forth another rock, right underneath magmar, before grabbing some of the debris psychically and sending it in magmar's direction, even as the fire-type fell down, laying prone.

The latter half of the debris shot through magmar's translucent red form, as Flannery returned her Pokémon. "I forfeit magmar. Congratulations Max!"

Barriers dropped, allowing Max to reunite with his baltoy, showering the psychic-type with praise for its ingenuity. Danny was beside him a moment later, congratulating Max enthusiastically, and the three of them went over to the referee's area.

Flannery was already there, and she waved the class over. Twenty-odd children were soon standing around them in a semi-circle, prompting Flannery to start speaking. "Did you like the battles?" Flannery addressed the children. Some nodded, some muttered and some loudly agreed in reply. "You have any questions?" Two girls and a boy raised their hands, and Flannery pointed to a girl with pigtails, standing in the back of the group. "You."

The group parted slightly to allow the girl to come closer. "It's for the trainer," she said, looking at Max, "if that's okay."

Flannery gave Max a look, and Max shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

"Why did you order electrike to use Spark? Couldn't you let it stay far away?"

"Electrike was getting tired," Max replied, "and magmar was only getting better. I needed to stop that."

"How did you know it was getting tired? Didn't look like it," a boy in the back piped up, before visibly deflating under his teacher's gaze. "Sorry."

"Ooh, good question," Flannery praised, which caused the boy to blush. "Tell ya what, Max, you give an answer and I'll add to it."

"Uuuh... Let me think..." Max said slowly, trying to remember what exactly had made him think electrike was getting tired. "There was... the turning. After it dodged the embers every time. It was getting slower."

"That's one thing I noticed too," Flannery said, a smile on her face. "The electricity was getting less powerful too, but I only saw that because it was on my half. It was running out of voltage. So, any more questions?" Three hands went up. "Hey, I thought there were two questions left. You," she pointed at a girl that hadn't raised her hand before.

"What do you mean by running out of voltage?"

"Most elemental attacks, like electricity, water and some grass-type attacks, only have a limited storage. An electrike can only store so much electricity," Flannery answered. "Same for the mudkip I fought earlier, and even my fire-types will run out of flame at some point." She put her hands behind her head. "More questions?"

"Last question," the teacher added, leading to a groan or two. "Timmy?"

A small boy, holding a squirtle backpack in his left hand, stepped forward. "Ms. Flannery, which battle was better?"

"Which did you think was better?" Flannery returned the question. A few kids answered, but the teacher made a shushing sound. "Timmy?"

The boy shuffled his feet, looking down shyly. "I liked both."

"You know what, Timmy?" Flannery said as she crouched, making eye contact as the boy looked straight ahead. "So did I. They were great battles and I'm proud to give them a badge. They earned it." She stood up and took the badge from a bag tacked onto her belt. "Congratulations Max. You're halfway to Ever Grande."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Once back in the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy held Max and Danny back after accepting the wounded. "Someone's Pokémon left a message for you while you were away," she said, holding up an envelope. Both their names had been written on one side. "Did you make friends with one of the other trainers?"

"Don't think so?" Danny said as he took the message. "Thanks Nurse Joy. We'll pick up our Pokémon tomorrow morning," he added before walking to the cafeteria. "Any ideas who wrote this?"

Max took the letter from Danny. The handwriting was familiar, but Max couldn't think who would've written them a note. Most communication was done with the Pokénav or the videophones. "No. I know my sister doesn't have a Pokénav, but she's not in Hoenn, I think." He stuck one finger under the envelope's flap. "Let's see."

 _Max, remember where you_ _last_ _had that green crystal? Be there by the next full moon._

"Well, that's not a letter at all," Danny said. "I don't get it."

"I do," Max said, wondering when the next full moon was. Probably in a few days: Max remembered the moon waxing to first quarter the nights before they'd arrived in Lavaridge."I'll explain in our room. I need food for this." A rumbling stomach agreed with that statement.

Max had never really talked about jirachi with Danny. He didn't like talking about that week. It was just too uncomfortable, which he'd told Brock the one time they talked about it. His sister had tried once as well, but Max had been a bit angry with her that day for some reason he didn't remember. He probably still wouldn't tell her.

"So, what about that crystal," Danny said as they sat down in their room after dinner. "And who's writing us anyway. You never said that."

Max took a deep breath. "Remember the Millennium Comet?"

"Yeah! That was cool," Danny enthused. "I watched that as much as I could. It's only once in a thousand years, and we were able to see it!" He frowned, thinking. "Wasn't there some legend to it? About jirachi?"

"Yep," Max confirmed. "A jirachi only wakes every time the Comet is here, but he needs a friend according to the legend." Danny nodded, familiar enough with the legend to follow. "The legend is real. There really is a jirachi that wakes with the Comet."

"Really?" Danny exclaimed in surprise. "Cool! Did you see it? Can it really grant wishes?"

"Yep," Max said, remembering the mountain of candy. That'd been cool. The part with the fake groudon... Not so cool. "The jirachi was sleeping in a green crystal until it woke up."

"And you had that crystal, so... You're the friend?" Danny asked. He sounded a bit sceptical. Max gave a nod as an answer to the question, which caused Danny to frown. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Max felt irritation flare up, but it went away nearly immediately. "I... I don't like talking about it. It's..." he trailed off, unsure what to say. "It wasn't all wishing for candy..." he trailed off. Some things he had never told anyone outside of Ash, Brock, and May. This. Groudon and kyogre. The Tree of Life. Several other events. He made his decision. "There's something I need to tell you."

He didn't tell Danny everything. That would take far too long, and he told Danny that straight up. He knew Danny would likely ask him about it later, but it was about jirachi now, and for the first time, Max shared the elation, the happiness, the fear, and the sadness that he had felt in that week in Forina. Danny had questions, of course, but he kept them to the topic at hand.

By the time the story had been told and Danny had asked all his questions, half an hour had passed, and Max's throat was parched. "So..." Danny said, "recapping. That green crystal is jirachi's crystal." Nod. "And that was in Forina? The place about a day and a half from here?" Another nod. "And why the cryptic hint? Could just ask, y'know."

"Yeah. That part is weird," Max agreed. "Oh well, it's okay. When's the full moon?"

"Three days," Danny answered immediately. "I looked it up while you were taking the dishes back." He put his hand on Max's shoulder. "Thanks for telling me." He took his hand back, and shuffled around in place, uneasily. "Your parents... They...Do they..."

"Not unless May told them."

"Why not?"

"Hi Mum, Dad. I had great fun with Ash. Only got into Legendary-grade lethal danger about half a dozen times," Max stated flatly. "Or more. Kinda lost count. I'm still not sure how Ash and Brock talked them into letting me join after Team Rocket stole my sister's torchic. Adding lethal danger to that, well... I think I'd be grounded until I turned sixteen or something."

"Well, if you put it that way. Next stop, Forina."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Flannery watched the class and the two trainers go off. The class went back to the school just down the road and the trainers were probably going to the Center to get their Pokémon healed. She had no more appointments until that night, when two more trainers would try to earn a badge. Because she was still working through the backlog, any new arrivals would have to wait in line.

A muffled thump sounded behind her as a heavy-set Pokémon landed, and a lighter thump followed it as a human jumped off the Pokémon's back. "I figured you were watching when I saw _him_ loitering around. Enjoyed the show?"

"Yes. You ramped up for the second boy, did you not? That was why you sought guidance from your grandfather, to ask if you should ramp up against someone with three months of official experience under his belt."

"Well, yeah. Normally, I wouldn't, but you saw what he did. Ninjask are great Pokémon. Too bad many trainers don't look past the type advantage fire has over bugs. If you can't hit it, you can't win." Flannery smirked as she turned around. "I know more trainers with that motto."

She saw her companion nod in agreement. "Travelling with someone for the better part of two years leaves a lasting impression, it would seem."

"Did they pass your test?" Flannery wondered, not flinching when a dark glare met her eyes. "Don't give me that. Why else would you be here? You don't idly watch my battles. You don't even live close to here."

"They exceeded my expectations," came the admission. "I am not comfortable with it, but less so than I was this morning."

"Good. Now, care for a training match in the mountains?" Flannery said as she grabbed one of the yellow and black pokéballs on her belt, releasing a charizard that obediently sank down, allowing Flannery to climb up on her back. "You owe me a rematch from last time."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Though our philosophies differ, we Gym Leaders share one overarching ideal: we want to push trainers further. No matter if you test strength, tenacity, friendship, or any other measure by which a trainer's worth can be seen, we have always sought to be the goal just inside of a trainer's reach. We should not be walls of impenetrable steel, nor should we be mere bumps in the road. Our duty is to assess the trainer, and hopefully find him worthy._

 _That is not to say that we must never be that insurmountable obstacle, or that minor bump. However, never be these callously, without regard for the situation. Adapt. Challenge the trainer by whichever measure you want. Make them_ earn _your badge._

From: Hoenn Gym Leader Philosophy.

By: Juan, Senior Gym Leader of Hoenn.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** More fighting, and Max taking a leaf from Ash's book in fighting against type disadvantage. Also some other characters.


	6. Chapter 6: Reunion

****Disclaimer:**** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

 **Warning:** There's a fairly detailed description of someone mortally wounded at the end of the chapter. T-rating probably deserved.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Reunion**

The Forina Valley was one of the most awe-inspiring places in Hoenn, especially when looking out over it from the nearby hills. Pillars, too numerous to count, rose up into the sky, flat-topped, peaked, wide, narrow, all varieties possible within normal physics were present. Yet, memories of two years or so back tainted the place. The destruction the fake groudon had caused was still visible in the clearings it had created, and a long trench indicated where it had walked.

Not for the first time, Ash wondered if life as a trainer would ever stop including legendary Pokémon at every possible turn. Sure, Team Rocket hadn't followed him to Sinnoh – and praise mew for that – but coming face to face with Pokémon so powerful they'd be able to blow him and the town he was in to tiny bits hadn't stopped. At least he only encountered a few of them, and most had actually been sort of friendly.

Of course, the ones that weren't friendly had been the Gods of Time and Space.

He'd counted the different legendary Pokémon he'd run into up until that point during a call with Brock about a week after arriving in Sinnoh – one of many calls back to Kanto. Every last one from Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn had been on the list, except for raikou. It was ridiculous. Sure, legendaries were rare and not one of a kind, but twenty-one in under four years? It was insane.

"Pi! Pi!" came a shout from his best friend, who was perched on top of his head. The rodent's eyes, more adept at picking up movement in the distance, had spotted something, and the pikachu jumped off, running down the hill to a pair of boys. Ash followed at a more leisurely pace, and when he came closer, he saw that they were the boys he was waiting for. Different clothing for Max, perhaps, but those glasses told Ash everything.

It was the first time Ash had seen Danny, since they'd only talked via Pokénav twice. He was pretty tall for a twelve year old, easily a few inches taller than Max was. He looked a lot like his uncle, especially in the colour of his hair and his face, though the spiky hairstyle was obviously different, and he was tall and thin, not stocky like the Professor was.

"Hey Ash!" Max said when the older trainer came close enough. "We thought it was you!" Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, enjoying a scratch behind the ears.

"Next time, sign a name," Danny added, a smile on his face taking the sting from the words. He held out his hand in greeting, and Ash shook it. Up close, he saw that Danny was only a few inches shorter than he was. "Mister Sinnoh League Champion."

He had not yet gotten used to that particular title, and he wasn't sure he ever wanted to. It felt good to hear that. "Yeah! Youngest champion in over ten years!" Max added, as always aware of things like that. Of course, that one had been Steven Stone, the former Hoenn Grand Champion. "The final was great to watch! You really flattened your opponent."

Ash's opponent in the final hadn't been able to send out his best Pokémon due to sustained injuries in the semi-final. The dragonite had taken out three other Pokémon before a primeape had torn one of its wings in a desperate attempt to keep it from flying off again. It wasn't a life-threatening injury, or even an injury that'd keep it out of battling for a long time, but torn wings did not heal in a day and a half, even with the best care medicine could provide.

It was just as well. Ash'd run into a dragonite in a final once before, and that one took four Pokémon to beat. Instead, weavile, croconaw, charizard and pikachu were able to beat the opponent 6-4 in a match that never felt out of his control, except for the one moment the opponent's froslass used Destiny Bond to take charizard out with her. Then he had remembered he still had three Pokémon remaining to the opponent's one. "Flattened is a big word, Max. It's not like he lost 6-0." He stretched, and pikachu took that moment to run up his body.

"Which other Pokémon did you have with you?" Max wondered. "Sceptile and snorlax? Which ones are here now?" Max's enthusiasm hadn't diminished one bit since Ash had last seen him.

"I had bulbasaur and heracross left," Ash stated as he fiddled with the release mechanism on his belt. "And the ones that are here, have a look yourself." Out came weavile and sceptile, then charizard, croconaw and swellow. "So, which Pokémon do you have? Danny?"

Out came Danny's five Pokémon. Aron, gulpin, duskull and mudkip were all Pokémon that could be really good defensively, especially after evolving. Ash wondered idly if Danny knew that. The fifth Pokémon, which came out last of all, caught his eye. "A snorunt? Izabe Island?" Ash guessed, and Danny confirmed it. "Does yours like pranks too?"

Danny looked confused, but Max laughed. "Nah, that's all your glalie. It likes playing, but it's not going to freeze your face unless you ask for it." He, too, grabbed his set of pokéballs. "And here's my Pokémon."

The treecko looked good, and Ash had the idea he'd hear from Max sooner rather than later saying he had a grovyle. The colours were a bit darker than was normal for treecko, which Ash'd seen on his own treecko the weeks before it evolved.. The other Pokémon, Ash wasn't as familiar with, and the last Pokémon was a bit surprising. Ninjask was a Pokémon Ash'd love to use himself, but it was weird to see Max with one. Maybe he should see if he could capture one. "A ninjask?"

"Yep. Evolved like two weeks ago. Super fast and pretty powerful."

"Just not very good against aron," Danny added. "Felt good to win that. It beats my other Pokémon. The speed, man. My Pokémon couldn't keep up at all."

"Why'd you call us here, Ash?" Max wondered. "I mean, it's great seeing you, and I'm not complaining and you're a League Champion—"

"But why am I here instead of in Pallet Town?" Ash finished Max's rambling. The boy looked relieved and nodded. "Can't I just visit friends? Have a little reunion?" Max gave him a look that spelled his disbelief out clear as anything. "No, really." An uncomfortable silence stretched until the sound of a Pokémon battle drifted down the road. "So, any of you want to battle a League Champion?"

The pair opposite him readily agreed, and they got their butt handed to them, but that wasn't a surprise to any of them. Even if Ash went easy on them, all of his Pokémon he had on him competed in the league finals for a reason, and it wasn't because they were weak. They probably exceeded the expectations Ash had of them, but he wasn't sure. Remembering how bad he was as a rookie trainer wasn't hard, but they had a lot more experience to begin their journey with, Max especially.

As the sun fell behind the horizon, Ash excused himself. He walked a good ways before sitting down under an outcropping. He took out his new Pokénav and dialled the number he'd been given earlier that week. "Hello."

"Hello Ash. Did you meet up?"

"Yeah, they're here safe and sound. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"Good to hear. Have you told them?"

"Not yet. Should I?"

"It may be beneficial. You yourself told me the Maple boy knows what can happen when trainers mess with the natural balance, and Birch told me his nephew would probably go along with whatever Maple does."

"You talked to Professor Birch? But what about secrecy?"

"I deemed it an acceptable risk. Leave those to me."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"According to our intel, Team Rocket has no active projects in Hoenn, and they are reasonably sure only a specific part of the information was taken. This worries me, Ash. By all accounts, the spy had full access and could easily have passed along all information, yet they elected not to. Be careful: the effects might not be the same."

"Understood." On his shoulder, Ash felt pikachu's ears twitch. "I need to go." He ended the call, which had barely taken a minute, and put a hand on croconaw's pokéball just in case. Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, dropping to all fours, faint sparks erupting from the pouches on its cheeks.

It turned out to be nothing but someone else looking for a quiet spot to make a phone call, and Ash made it back to the camp without any problems. The moment he was noticed by Max, however, a question came his way. "Hey Ash, did you travel with someone in Sinnoh? You never said anything about that."

"Nope. There was someone who started a few hours before I made it to the local Pokémon Professor's lab, but I never saw her."

"And Brock didn't go after you this time?"

"Nah. He's the Gym Leader again. The Pokémon Inspection Agency actually requested him to return. Apparently, his parents were making a mess of the Gym." Ash laughed, remembering the stories Brock had told him. Then, a wave of drowsiness assaulted him, prompting a yawn. "I guess I'm kinda tired. Got any questions you really want to ask before I turn in?"

"You could tell us why you're here," Max began, "and just tell the truth. You're a shit liar, Ash"

"Just give the short version," Danny added. "'m pretty tired too."

Ash shot a look at Max. "Max, I told you about that thing in Johto, with Lance's gyarados, remember? Someone's stolen the technology for that from Team Rocket, but we're not sure what for."

"Forced evolution? We only have unevolved Pokémon, Ash. Except ninjask."

"Yeah, but it's different. We just detected a signal north of here, and it didn't match the records. We need to find out what it actually does, and take out the base it's coming from."

"And why take us along?" Danny asked. He leant forward, trying to see Ash's face through the increasing darkness. "We're rookies. We're no help against criminals. We don't even have fully evolved Pokémon."

Ash laughed softly. "That's no guarantee, Danny. Some of my best Pokémon aren't fully evolved." Pikachu, bulbasaur, the Johto starter trio. "Besides, help is always welcome." Another yawn, fiercer this time. "Enough information?" The other two agreed, and Ash sent out his sceptile. "Sceptile, you're on guard tonight. Think you can handle it?"

The sceptile's vocal reply was the last loud sound that came from the group until early the next day.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Travel was slower than Ash liked, but he discovered, or rediscovered rather, that hiking in Sinnoh and hiking in Hoenn only had in common that there were mountains involved. There was no snow, but the sun beating down on the mountainous paths was just as bad, if not worse. It sapped energy like nothing else, and the hottest hours of the day were best spent sitting in the shade somewhere; walking on a hilly path without cover was the fastest way to sunstroke. Even the other two, who were probably more used to the heat than he could ever be, were struggling with the heatwave that scorched the north of Hoenn.

On the fourth day of searching, near sundown, Ash dutifully checked his signal receiver again. It had been calibrated to pick up on the distinct radio signal that had been Project R's. He knew it wouldn't work perfectly, but it worked well enough. The past three days, the display hadn't shown anything out of the ordinary, the needle hovering in the black zone that indicated that it didn't detect anything. Now, however, the needle had spun. "Hey, stop."

"You got a signal?" Max asked as he leant over to check the display. "That's a signal. A pretty strong one too." He looked up. "It doesn't look like an evolution signal. Pikachu doesn't look affected."

The yellow mouse let loose a quick crackle of electricity to prove his strength wasn't being sapped, and he looked fine, if sweaty, otherwise. "I'm glad he isn't," Ash admitted. "Let's set up camp. I'll let swellow search the area."

As they waited for swellow to hopefully locate the base, Ash let croconaw out of his pokéball. The middle-stage pokémon also showed no signs of being impeded by whatever signal was being broadcast. Ash returned croconaw and let out his other Pokémon one by one. To a single one, they didn't show any sign of sapped strength, general weakness or other signals he remembered from last time. "Any ideas, guys?"

Danny looked up from checking aron's shell. "Aron and mudkip are okay. I really dunno."

"Same for treecko and electrike," Max added, needlessly, as Ash had seen them both move around the camp site a few minutes earlier. "Maybe it's not actually working?"

"Why is there a signal if it doesn't work?" Danny argued. "It's working. We don't know what it does, but it probably works."

Max fiddled with one of the pokéballs on his belt. "Yeah, you're right." Out came baltoy and ninjask, right next to the food Max had prepared for both of them. "Time for foo... baltoy, what's wrong?"

The Clay Doll Pokémon had fallen over, spasming on the ground like something struck by one of pikachu's Thunder attacks. A wave of psychic energy pushed outwards, displacing the food bowls, ninjask and mudkip, and Ash felt it ripple across him from where he was standing, about thirty feet away. "Max, return it!" he ordered, even as a second wave of energy, more powerful than the first, sent one bowl flying off onto the slope of the mountain. "Now!" A third wave erupted before Max could return it, and Ash felt like he'd just been pushed in the stomach, all over. "Everyone alright?" he asked, to various sounds of agreement.

"Was that the signal?" Danny wondered, resuming his check of aron's shell.

"Has to be," Max replied darkly. "I've put baltoy in stasis, just in case."

"Good idea, Max" Ash complimented, which prompted the other boy to meet Ash's eyes. "Easy. We'll get them, destroy the transmitter and baltoy will be back to normal before you know it." Speaking of that, there was something he needed to do. "Guys, I had an idea last night." The look of disbelief on Max's face was all he could have hoped for, as was the genuine smile that slowly took over as Ash explained the idea.

It also looked a bit off for a reason Ash couldn't place.

 **~~§~~§~~**

The sun had barely started peeking around the mountain to the east, directly to their back, when they laid eyes on the entrance to the hidden base for the first time. "A cave? Are you kidding?" Danny wondered, speaking softly, moments before a man, clad in dark clothing, an umbreon beside him, walked out of the entrance, looked around for a few seconds, then walked back into an alcove right next to the entrance. "Okay, that's probably it."

"Ya think?" Max mumbled as he looked off to the side, using small binoculars Ash had given him. "Can't see an antenna or a dish. It's hidden or they're not using one."

"Let's hope they're not using one," Ash stated, unclasping one of the three pokéballs on his belt and releasing swellow. He whispered a few orders to his flying-type, which took off away from the trio's position. "Everyone ready?"

"Yep," Max stated. A soft zip told Ash he'd put the binoculars in his backpack.

"Pi-ka-pi."

"Think so," said Danny as he released his aron and told him what to do.

"Right. Get ready."

Aron slowly walked into plain view of the cave before picking up speed and smashing into the rocks near the entrance, imitating a wild aron digging for the iron ore that made up big parts of its diet.

The guard emerged from his hiding place, the umbreon by his side, but before he could chase off the 'wild' aron, a blur crashed into his back, nearly knocking him out as his head hit the ground, hard. At the same time, electricity lashed out, shocking the umbreon into helplessness.

Ash, Danny, Max, and pikachu climbed over the rock and rushed to the fallen figures. Ash and Danny quickly tied the guard's arms behind his back, while Max and pikachu kept a lookout for other guards coming out of the cave entrance. The guard was conscious, but he only started trying to wriggle out of the ropes tying his arms to his back when Danny had already tied two knots and was in the process of adding a third. "Stop that," Ash ordered as charizard materialised close to them, the fire-type towering over the captive. "Charizard, guard him. Knock him out if he tries to yell for help."

Danny had returned aron, and the four of them quickly ran into the cave, darting into the small alcove they had seen the guard hide in. It opened into a small room with a comfortable chair, a small table and a few possessions strewn around the room. "No cameras?" Max wondered.

"Doesn't look like it." Ash looked around, trying to find something that identified the group they were up against, but nothing was visible. "Let's go."

The path into the mountain's interior appeared natural, carefully eroded by years upon years of pokémon moving around, though whoever was using the mountain as a hideout had put up supporting beams and simple electric lighting, as best they could in a twisting tunnel. Weavile and pikachu led the way, each intent on releasing an attack at a moment's notice, but nobody was encountered until they came to a metal door that blocked the way onwards.

Everyone took a few steps backwards, pressing themselves against the wall. "Ready?" Ash asked, which got him two nods. "Sceptile, go!"

The door was not sturdy enough to withstand sceptile's Quick Attack, bending for a moment at the point of impact before breaking off its hinges entirely. Pikachu and weavile rushed in, followed by their trainer. Ash had a moment or two to check his surroundings, finding himself in a spacious steel-plated room with a high, but rocky, ceiling; computers, desks and chairs extending about twenty feet to his left.

He had no time to see what was on his right before a loud "ka-chu!" echoed through the room, raising the hairs on his neck with static electricity before a gust of greasy energy swept over him: a dark-type attack, weakened by pikachu's Thunderbolt. Another cry from his starter accompanied another Thunderbolt, now offensive, leading to a cry of pain from the other Pokémon.

A mightyena laid prone on the floor, some fifty, sixty feet away, though two more pokémon took up position behind it. Two trainers, clad in the same black as the guard they had captured outside, stood behind them. Behind them was a tank, glass obscuring its contents in the low light.

The left pokémon, an ursaring, lumbered forward, but, at Max's order, sceptile shot forward to meet it. Leaf Blade met a glowing arm, and the two locked into melee combat, each attempting to overpower the other through sheer power.

Ash focused on the other pokémon: a bulky hariyama that ignored weavile's hastily thrown ice shard before trying to fend off the nimble dark-type's slashes. Its right hand burst into flame, but a perfectly timed jet of water extinguished the fire as croconaw took a shot from afar.

Weavile flipped over the hariyama, her claws raking the fighting type's back while a snowy gust blew over its front as Danny's snorunt sent powdery snow at it. Neither attack did much, Ash knew: the hariyama's bulk allowed it to shrug off many weaker attacks without a problem, but weavile could run circles around it for days.

Either hariyama or its trainer recognised the same thing as it started running towards Ash and Danny. It made it halfway through before the idiocy of that plan was revealed: pikachu's ferocious Thunder stopped it dead in its tracks. The moment the electricity stopped, weavile dug her left set of claws into its back, before dancing away as croconaw unleashed another Water Gun. Once that stopped, snorunt sent more Icy Wind at it, which was something that weavile did as well, a moment later.

The hariyama fell, a thunderous thud echoing through the room as the heavyset Pokémon hit the ground, and Ash shifted his attention to the other battle. A glimpse of red in the corner of his eye indicated that the hariyama had been returned by its trainer.

Max's treecko had somehow managed to climb onto the ursaring's head, grasping it with both hands as he absorbed energy from the bear, which was trying to dislodge the small grass-type by shaking its head. One arm hung useless by its side, while the other arm was trying to keep sceptile from landing a Leaf Blade on the bear's torso.

Max ordered something Ash didn't really catch, but treecko jumped off. A moment later, sceptile used the ursaring's injured arm against it, feinting right and landing a vicious Leaf Blade right on its upper arm, where the brown fur was a bit darker than the rest. The bear howled in pain as sceptile dodged out of the way of the flailing uninjured arm. Another order from Max saw both grass-types unleash a hailstorm of Bullet Seeds, and that was that.

The ursaring, like the hariyama before, dissolved into red energy. Before any of the attackers could say anything, hariyama's trainer threw a round object, and Ash had enough experience with criminals of any kind to know what it was. A smokescreen was thrown up, obscuring the view of the rest of the chamber for about five seconds before swellow had displaced enough of it. Ash caught a glimpse of someone entering a side-door on the far end of the room, but the door slammed shut moments later.

Max was closest, running for the door. "It's shut! Sceptile!" He stepped back, and let sceptile ram himself into the door once more, but the door merely budged instead of breaking off its hinges.

"Leave it," Ash countermanded. "We got what we came for." Max turned to him, looking angry, fists balled up. "We did, Max. We got their technology. That's important."

"I guess you're right," Max said, but the fists didn't unclench. Ash didn't blame him. If he hadn't been told specifically that it was the technology, he would've been right behind Max.

A yell from the far side of the room alerted both of them. "Pokémon here!" Danny yelled. "In the tank!"

Everyone ran up to where Danny was. Up against the right wall of the tank, electrodes covering many parts of its body, laid a kirlia. It was only because Ash was looking closely that he saw it breathe at all.

Sceptile broke into the tank, shattering the glass with a carefully applied Leaf Blade before walking in, cutting the wires attaching it to the machine, and then lifting it and bringing it out of the tank.

Up close, the kirlia looked terrible. Every other electrode carefully removed revealed sores or other injuries; some healed injuries hadn't been cleaned, leading to patches of dried blood on its skin; it looked half-starved; and one of its arms was probably broken. Ash was about to capture it and immediately call Professor Oak to get it medical attention when it used telepathy.

" _M-Max? I-is that y-you?"_

"Ralts?" Max asked, his voice rich with... something. Ash couldn't tell what it was. A moment later, he cried out "Ralts!", kneeling by the kirlia and carefully lifting it into his arms. "Yes, I promised. I'm here now, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay."

Max whispered more soft messages of comfort, softly, gently, and extremely carefully rocking the psychic-type, but midway through one of the motions, Ash saw him freeze. "No! We can get you healed up! You're going to be—" he cut off, leaving painful silence as he alone listened to the kirlia's telepathy. "No, no, no, no, no, no..."

" _I'm... sorry..."_

The kirlia glowed, motes of light in all colours of the rainbow gently wafting upwards and outwards as the psychic-type just faded away, like smoke spreading in the wind. Max attempted to hug the kirlia, but succeeded only in clasping his own chest. He tried to grab the light, but succeeded only in scattering the motes more. He stopped.

The room was silent but for the sound of sorrow.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

Name: Ash Ketchum

Age: 16

Region: Kanto

Trainer Class: Ace

Style: Speedsters, Unorthodox

Odds: 21-2

Notes: An outsider in any League he enters, Ketchum defeats his opponents using a mixture of skill and speedy Pokémon. Has earned all seven Kanto Battle Frontier Symbols, reportedly dispatching multiple Legendaries along the way. Other results include winning the Orange League and making top 8 in Johto and Hoenn.

Pokémon to watch: Charizard, Pikachu, Tauros.

From: _Pokébet's_ profile of Ash Ketchum, retrieved prior to the start of the Sinnoh League.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And so fate brought Max and ralts together... For all of a minute and a half. Earlier vaguely plotted ideas had the ralts survive, but from what I've seen, which, admittedly, likely isn't exhaustive, that is the standard, and I felt subverting it could work. I hope I actually did make it work.

Also: Ash, who's going to pop up quite a bit. He missed Dawn because the boat to Sinnoh had to dodge a pack of wailords, and Tobias wasn't present in the League either. Ash did make it to Alamos Town for some or another reason, which is why he refers to dialga and palkia.


	7. Chapter 7: Evolution

****Disclaimer:**** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Evolution**

It was supposed to have been a night like any other otherwise unoccupied night, such few as they were: a glass of Hoenn rosé, soft piano music and a good book. It had been looking like one until ten seconds before, when he had heard bombastic notes echo from his study.

He was receiving a call, and the phone that received it was not a phone he had expected to use until three days from now. "Good evening."

"Good evening, sir," the female voice on the other side returned, before succinctly summarising events that had happened earlier that day, in a facility due north and east. Questions he asked were answered adequately, until he had received all relevant information. "How should we proceed?"

Restarting the experiment was not an option: if his suspicions regarding the opposing organisation were correct, further active forays would be picked up quicker than the seven months it had taken for them to dismantle the operation and, presumably, destroy the base entirely. Risk versus reward was not on his side going onward, even before other challenging conundrums, such as the acquisition of a test subject, were taken into consideration. He also had none of the recent results in writing, as the lead scientist vacated the premises without taking them with him. "We will need to retreat and recover. Other avenues are more promising as of now."

"Understood," was the answer, and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she did, for such was their partnership. "I'll be in touch."

The call ended, and he sat down at his desk. The undertaking's failure was a hindrance, but its purpose had never been to utilise it like Team Rocket had. He shook his head. Such a waste they were, utilising force to try and exert pressure upon society, in the unlikely scenario they were more than common thugs. Then again, Team Aqua and Magma had hardly been more sophisticated, from what he had been able to gather from his network.

And if his network was correct, he had just raised the ire of a thorn in the side of those organisations. No, it was best to brief the remaining facilities to exercise extreme caution. Restricting research cost time, but preserved the project. Next month was likely a reasonable time to restart the research.

As for this month… Perhaps it was time to work in another arena, one that teenagers – even if they were League Champions – only rarely partook in.

 **~~§~~§~~**

The rest of the hideout was simple. There were a few rooms with beds, desks, chairs, wardrobes: the usual things for any Pokémon Center room, except this was underground, and the walls were rock. Ash and Danny had seen one trap while they cleared out the other rooms, but a simple tripwire didn't do much to stop anyone that was walking slowly and looking out for traps.

The slow search did help to calm Danny. The attacks he saw Ash's pikachu dish out, and the… ferociousness? Of sceptile and weavile, and of their opponents…. He realised he had a long way to go, and though he knew Ash would not let them come to harm, Danny had been a tiny bit scared.

The fled trainers were nowhere to be seen now, however. He was sort of glad for that. They only had Danny's Pokémon, plus Ash's croconaw and weavile, and the corridors were narrow and small. The hariyama could probably block the entire path. Sceptile and pikachu were with Max, as guards, and maybe to comfort him too. Danny had seen pikachu and Max be good buddies before.

He ducked underneath a low-hanging beam, turned a corner and closed his eyes as daylight assaulted them. It wasn't too bright, but way brighter than the tunnel. Opening his eyes, he stepped outside onto a rocky plain, passing by an opened door as he did. Sunlight bathed part of the plain, but the tunnel's entrance was in the shadows. To his right, he saw tyre tracks for some big car, going off, and the smell of something recently burned made him squeeze his nose shut.

Ash had seen the tyre tracks as well. "They're gone. Probably burned their clothing to keep us from tracking them with a flying Pokémon." He knelt by something to Danny's left, and when Danny turned, he saw the not-quite ashes of something that had burned just a few minutes before. "Croconaw?" Moments later, water doused the smoking remains of the clothes.

As Danny made to walk back in, Ash put a hand on his shoulder. "You want to call Professor Birch?"

It sounded like a really good idea, but Danny wasn't sure. How could he explain this? Before he could decide that, Ash spoke up. "He knows about what we were doing. Someone else told him," the older teen assured him.

The call went through to Joshua, but Danny simply asked if his uncle was available. He was, after a minute or so of waiting, and the Professor wasted no time. "Hello Danny! Are you okay? Did you succeed?"

"Sorta. Some of them got away, but one got caught. They weren't a big threat."

"But are you okay?"

"Stop worrying uncle, of course I'm okay." Danny rolled his eyes. He was making a call. You didn't do that if you weren't okay. "Ash's Pokémon are powerful." He looked over at Ash, who was making a call of his own, closer to the back entrance, out of earshot.

"Ash shared his Pokémon with you?"

Was that surprise in his uncle's voice? Danny wasn't sure. "Uhuh. He said it was safer. Max chose sceptile and Ash gave me croconaw to use. Sceptile and treecko took down a huge ursaring together!" He frowned. "Wish I did as much..."

"I'm sure you helped the best you could, Danny," his uncle encouraged him. "You're a good trainer. Not everyone can get four badges in three months, you know."

"Not as good as Max," Danny replied truthfully.

"Stop it, Danny." His uncle's voice was hard. Danny could picture the scowl on his face perfectly. "You're not Max. Stop comparing yourself to him."

"I know, I know! It's just... he told me about jirachi and the groudon and kyogre thing. And the Team Rocket guys too. And Max didn't even have Pokémon then." Danny replied. "He's not that much more experienced."

"What? Jir… Never mind. He was still there, Danny," his uncle explained calmly. "Rampaging Pokémon and criminals don't care if someone is a trainer. Besides, do you really think none of the Pokémon would listen to him? You told me earlier that he and Ash's pikachu got along great."

"I guess..."

"That sceptile was one of Ash's first Pokémon in Hoenn, too. Max is going to know what sceptile can do and can't do, and croconaw makes sense for you, because you know what they can do, too." Danny mulled over that explanation, but his thoughts were interrupted. "Are Max and Ash okay, by the way?"

"Ash is making a call," Danny said, "and Max..."

"Yes?" Professor Birch said after Danny trailed off. "What happened?"

A deep breath. "We found Max's ralts. They were using him for their signal... He was..." he trailed off again, unsure how to continue.

"It died, didn't it?"

"He did. In Max's arms."

There was a loud, harsh, sound from the other side; one that made Danny reflexively move the Pokénav away from his ear. "Of all the Pokémon, it was that Pokémon," his uncle mused. "Did you insult Arceus lately?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Can you tell Max to call me tonight? If he wants to."

"I'll try." Danny didn't want to promise any more.

"That's all I can ask." Danny heard a familiar sound in the background. "I need to go. Danny, no matter what you feel, you did great today, and I know you can help Max with this too. Just be yourself, okay?"

Danny's reply was lost to the ether as the call ended. Turning around, he saw that Ash's call had also ended, and the teenager was now leaning against the mountain, waiting for Danny to return. "Your call went okay?"

"Yeah. They're okay with them getting away. The technology is more important. They did want us to see if there wasn't some sort of journal or report or anything."

"Then we'll have to go look," Danny stated confidently. "Start with the bedrooms?"

"Yeah. Let's give Max some more time."

Danny could only agree with that.

They found a couple of things in the bedrooms, but nothing really important, even after Danny put his ear to the wall and tapped on the stone, looking for something hollow. It was a bit disappointing, Danny felt, but Ash just shrugged, mentioning that he wasn't expecting to find anything in the bedrooms. "They had time to clear out, remember?"

Max had moved. He'd been in full view of the door, but he wasn't any more, so he had to have moved. When Danny entered the main hall, the sound of a squeaky chair told him where his friend had gone: Max was reading something on one of the computers.

"Ash, come over here!" he called when he noticed them; the closing of the door alerting him to their return. Pikachu and treecko had already noticed them, the former closing the distance to Ash with quick leaps.

Looking over his friend's shoulder, Danny saw Max was reading some document on the 'experiment'. It read like one of his Uncle's journals. Danny'd tried to read those a few times, but he always lost track. Too many words he didn't get.

"Eh, Max..." Ash started, gently, "I don't understand this."

In reply, Max scrolled the document upwards. "Oops. That's the technical part. There's a summary up here." He highlighted three long paragraphs. "There."

The summary talked about how they got the ralts, how they'd made him evolve forcibly and how they were trying to make the signal more powerful, in language Danny actually understood. He wasn't sure he wanted to, especially when he read about the 'problems' they were having with kirlia, but he did. Then he remembered that Max had probably read that too, and he winced.

"Okay. Good to know," Ash said when he had finished reading. "Let's get out of here."

"Right." Max pushed himself out of the chair, and Danny instinctively shot forward to support him, like he'd done three months before, but Max stopped him. "Thanks Danny, I'm okay."

"Chu-hu," came the pikachu's disbelieving cry that echoed Danny's own thoughts.

"Okay to walk, then," Max amended. "Busybody."

Danny never knew a pikachu could look so smug.

 **~~§~~§~~**

The camp that night was subdued, and awkward. Ash and Danny didn't want to really talk about anything, but they managed to annoy Max. Somehow. Danny wasn't sure how that happened, but for once, he was pretty happy Max left the camp after dinner, pikachu on his shoulder as a guard, something Danny didn't see in his hand..

It wasn't that Max went far away, and in the setting summer sun, Danny could easily see Max's outline, looking out over a small valley as he sat near the edge of the plateau. That, at least, hadn't changed. "It doesn't make sense," Danny murmured.

"What doesn't?" Ash replied, walking past with a full plate of food for the charizard, setting it down a moment later. "Max?"

"Uhuh. Wasn't like this last time." Danny turned to look at Ash, who'd sat down at the opposite side of the small fire they'd used to cook on. "It's weird."

"He always wants to be alone when things don't go his way, you know that."

"It's not that," Danny replied, a bit more forcefully than he intended. "It's just... He wasn't this... I don't know... Active? Angry?"

"I don't know." The cry of a swellow – wild, not Ash's – overhead prompted both of them to look up for a second. "I really don't know, Danny. Brock's better at this stuff than I am. Misty too. But I think he'll be okay."

"As long as that guy we captured gets in jail. Thought Max was gonna punch him when we came out."

"If sceptile hadn't stopped Max, I think he would have. Probably no less than the guy deserves."

A Pokémon cry to his left alerted Danny, but it was only pikachu electrocuting some wild flying Pokémon. It probably got too close to Max, and pikachu took his guarding seriously, Danny knew. "Probably? Ya think?"

Ash held out his hands in an apologetic gesture. "Okay, point taken." He paused, taking a moment to check how far along his eating Pokémon were with emptying their plates. "I thought about capturing the ralts, screw the risks. Maybe I should have."

"Risks?" They always heard that capturing a very injured Pokémon was something you didn't do, but Danny hadn't really thought about why that was. It just was.

"Entering a pokéball for the first time isn't easy. Using it on very wounded Pokémon can cause a coma or death."

"Oh. Okay." Silence fell, uncomfortable, but understandable. "I don't think he would've survived."

"I don't think so, too," Ash said. "But what if..."

That was the question. What if… They'd be waiting in a Center, probably, waiting for news from Kanto, hoping, perhaps even praying, that it was going to turn out alright.

"I think ralts would've been a good Pokémon for Max," Ash said at length, a few minutes after Danny's thoughts about might-have-beens.

That was an understatement. "Well, duh," Danny said. "He couldn't wait to get to Izabe Island. Made plans and everything."

Ash shook his head. "No, I don't mean that. It fits his style."

"I don't get it."

Ash stood up, starting to pace a bit. "Every trainer has their own style. I like fast Pokémon, I don't like switching Pokémon out just because they're at a type disadvantage and lots of people say I'm unorthodox. That's my style." Ash waited for a nod from Danny before continuing. "I think Max really wants to limit the options his opponent has. Ralts are perfect for that. They can teleport away from physical attacks, and they can create barriers to stop smaller projectiles. It's really annoying to fight a gardevoir." Ash's hand went to the bridge of his nose. "Probably the most annoying opponent I faced in the Lily of the Valley Conference."

Danny and Max hadn't seen Ash fight a gardevoir, and this was the first time he spoke of the earlier rounds. "That bad?"

"Worse. It knew Draining Kiss." That prompted a wince. Recovery moves were annoying. Half of the matches Max's treecko won in sparring were because he recovered stamina with Absorb. "Took out weavile and sceptile, and I only won because it didn't have enough psychic energy left to deal with snorlax."

"That sounds like my battle against Flannery," Max said as he sat down. Danny hadn't heard him come back. "Tire the opponent out and win because you had a big lead. Still was pretty close."

Ash chuckled. "That's because Flannery used a more powerful Pokémon against you. Gym Leaders don't like to lose without getting a single knock-out in," he said as he unzipped his bag. "I don't think I ever won a badge without having to switch Pokémon. If it was more than a 1 on 1."

"Pikachu did it against Wattson," Max reminded Ash.

"I'm not counting that," Ash said. Then, to Danny. "Pikachu picked up a ton of extra electricity from some of Wattson's robots. One hit knock-outs on all of Wattson's Pokémon." The electric mouse walked up to Ash, sniffing at the backpack. "You already ate!"

"Chu?" the pikachu replied, adding a "Pi-ka-chu." as he pointed at Ash.

The first time Danny had seen this, he'd been amazed at the level of understanding Ash had of what his Pokémon were saying. Now, a week later, he was pretty sure that pikachu just wanted to snack on the sweet marshmallows Ash was retrieving from his backpack, and the electric type wasn't going to give up until he got one as well.

"So Gym Leaders have a lot of different Pokémon they can use?" Danny asked after pikachu had been given a marshmallow on a stick as well. "And that magmar was probably more powerful than the houndour and growlithe?"

"Of course." Ash seemed completely certain. "Here's a good one for you. What did you think we fought in our first Gym in Sinnoh? It's Rock-type, three Pokémon."

Danny thought for a bit. It was the first gym, but Ash was a pretty experienced trainer, so... "Graveler, onix and... lairon?"

"Close, but wrong. Max?"

"Golem, magcargo, rhydon?"

"Golem's correct, and there was an aggron too, so you weren't that far off, Danny," Ash said. "Pikachu ran circles around the aggron, sceptile beat golem no problem. Then the Gym Leader sends out a tyranitar." Danny winced, and Max blanched. "Yeah. That was hard, and it countered nearly everything. One of the hardest badges to earn for me. But what did you think he sent out in the next battle against a beginning trainer?"

"Geodude, nosepass, onix?" Danny ventured. "Maybe a cranidos. They're Sinnoh-native, right?"

"They are, and he had one. No nosepass. That's Roxanne's." Ash took a sniff of his marshmallow, taking it out of the fire, and started blowing on it every few seconds. "The stronger you get, the stronger the Pokémon the Gym Leaders will use. Don't expect them to go easy on you all the time."

 **~~§~~§~~**

One week onwards, the hiking had temporarily made way for a well-travelled route as they'd emerged from the wilderness onto route 114 between Fallarbor Town and the Meteor Falls. Danny had asked Ash why he'd stayed with them when the job was done, but Ash had just said that he had to be near Meteor Falls anyway, so they could travel together.

Though the route was well-travelled, they didn't go all that fast. There were a ton of trainers around, and most of them wanted to battle, something that Max and Danny gladly obliged. Practice never hurt, and Danny liked working with his new Pokémon. His mudkip was now a marshtomp, and it wouldn't be long before he'd be entirely immune to electric-type attacks. Anything Max's electrike sent at him did nothing, and he only flinched at pikachu's Thunderbolts out of habit, not because the electricity actually shocked him.

It was hard to unlearn habits, but he was getting there.

He'd also picked up how to use Dig and Mud Shot in the past week. Max's ninjask hadn't happy when the globs of mud had intercepted him.

The bug-type was faring much better right now, as he defied the type advantage the opponent's plusle had on him, using a lot of the loose sand and rocks to weaken and block the electricity that tried to zap him. Around the battle, off to the side, up on small ledges, were a few trainers. Ash and Danny were there, but next to them were two more trainers, a few years older than Danny. They travelled with Max's opponent. The girl next to Danny was going to fight Max next, and Danny heard her mumble ideas under her breath.

It didn't end up working because Max's baltoy slammed a rock into her magnemite. Repeatedly.

The scene two hours later saw Max and Danny laze on the ledge and Ash showing off against some teenagers his age. The sun wasn't too bad, and a soft breeze made the temperature just perfect for falling asleep. Danny's eyes closed once, then another time.

A Pokémon crashing into the ground caused Danny to open his eyes again, and only a moment had passed: it was still sceptile battling a vigoroth down below. He shook his head, intent on getting the sleep out of his head, and stood up. Sleeping now was not a good idea, he knew. Max looked like he was nearly falling asleep as well, head nodding as he tried to watch the battle. "Max." Danny's foot met Max's knee, softly. "Wanna look around?" he added after Max looked up.

A nod, a yawn, and an almighty stretch followed. Max yelled that they were going to explore, and after getting a wave back, they left, into the evergreen trees that lined the main route and the small arena. Soon, the sounds of battle faded as they weaved through the trees, carefully stepping around obstacles like roots, fallen branches, rocks, and piles of Pokémon poop. "You looking for a Pokémon?"

Danny shook his head. "No. I mean, swablu are okay, but not looking-looking for one," he admitted as he tested the strength of a low branch. It was strong enough to support his weight, he found out after Max gave him enough of a boost. "You want one?" Danny asked as he scanned the immediate area.

"No," came the expected answer. "Not after..."

Danny jumped down from the branch, landing on flat ground, not roots, and put his hands on Max's shoulders. "Max... You can't—"

"I know," Max cut him off, smiling sadly as he pushed against Danny's right wrist, who promptly let both of his arms fall by his side. "Just drop it, okay? I'll catch more Pokémon. Later. Besides," and his smile morphed into a grin, one that reminded Danny of happier times, "my sister has a swablu. I am not getting anything my sister has." Then, softer. "Sure want an eevee, though."

"Just wait for it to evolve, then get one," Danny offered as they started walking again. "That counts, right?" He saw Max nod. "I want one too. We might have to fight each other for it. Like Ash for croconaw."

"You're on!" Max stated confidently before suddenly snapping his head to their right. "What's that?"

"What's wha... Hey, wait up!" Danny said as Max ran off, jumping over an uprooted, young, tree without a problem. Danny followed more carefully, wary of tripping over roots, even though Max hadn't tripped, and was now kneeling next to something blue in the green undergrowth. It looked like... "Is that a Pokémon egg?"

"Looks like it," Max said, carefully putting a hand on it. "Feels like one too. Probably isn't too close to hatching."

Danny knelt next to Max, performing the same tests Max had done moments earlier. The egg was a light blue, with a grey half-cap. It looked like it had been there for a few days already, nestled against the roots of whatever bush it was, a few green specks lying on top of the grey.

He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but Danny picked the egg up, and thrust it, gently, into Max's stomach. The other boy automatically closed his arms around the egg, which was the prompt Danny needed to unhand it. "Meet your new Pokémon once it hatches."

"Danny! I... You... We," Max spluttered. "We can't just take this! What if—"

"They'd been there before now," Danny interrupted Max's exclamation. "It's been here for days. You found it, you keep it."

Max shot a glare at Danny. "You're not going to let this go, right?" He let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. If it hatches into a swablu, it's yours, though."

"Sure," Danny said, happy that he'd managed to talk Max into taking it that quickly. "Pretty sure those eggs are blue and white, not blue and grey." He checked his Pokénav, finding that it was only fifteen minutes since they'd entered the forest. Felt a lot longer. "Let's head back. Maybe Ash knows which Pokémon it is."

Ash didn't know which Pokémon it belonged to, but he agreed with Danny that it probably wasn't a swablu egg. He offered to call around to see if they could identify it, but Max put a stop to that. They'd find out anyway.

 **~~§~~§~~**

A Pokémon egg. His own Pokémon egg. He found it, instead of earning it like Ash had done, or getting it, like his sister and a few of his classmates had done, but it was an egg. And he didn't even know which Pokémon was going to hatch from it, and he knew next to nothing about raising some of the more difficult Pokémon, and he wasn't even sure why he'd just agreed to take it when Danny gave him the egg.

But he had accepted it, pretty much instantly. Maybe it was because he was with Ash again, and weird stuff always happened around Ash, and the others in the group had learned to just roll with it. And as he laid on the ground, getting ready to sleep, the egg near his face, he felt better than he'd felt in a week. All because of the egg, waiting to hatch, and a friend, helping him.

"Hey, Danny," Max whispered, unsure if the other boy was asleep already.

"Hm?" Danny's voice was deep, thick with near-sleep.

"Thanks."

"For?"

"The egg, last week... Everything."

"'swhat friends are for," Danny replied softly, a yawn following. "Night."

"Night."

For the first time in over a week, Max's sleep was uninterrupted and good.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _The lifespan of Pokémon is extremely varied. Many are capable of living as long as humans, if not longer, and equally many possess a smaller lifespan not exceeding even a quarter of the average human. Apparent rarity (see: Pokémon Index of Rarity, appendix C) is the best predictor of lifespan, followed shortly by innate aggressiveness, typing, and region._

 _The various bug-types featuring a chrysalis state (e.g.: kakuna, metapod, cascoon, silcoon, spewpa) are widely recognised as having the shortest lifespan, yet caterpie in Hoenn live up to two years longer than Kanto caterpie, and three years longer than their Sinnoh brethren. The leading theory is that Hoenn's climate allows for a longer life, but no biological markers have been found upon dissection of caterpie, metapod, and butterfree. Evolution, while as near-inevitable as it is for all bug-types, is slower for Hoenn caterpie as well, and statistical research indicates that there are no significant differences for the proportion of life these bugs spend as caterpie, metapod, and butterfree._

 _[…]_

 _Contrary to commonly-held beliefs, longevity, rarity, and evolution are not correlated. The common rattata is as likely to remain a rattata is it is to turn into a raticate in the wild, which is similar to the average evolution rate of sandshrew.. Yet rattata's wilderness lifespan is in the 10_ _th_ _percentile, whilst sandshrew scores in the 37_ _th_ _percentile. A part of this is explained by predators eating rattata: adjusting the data to exclude preyed-upon Pokémon still shows a 14 percentile – 21_ _st_ _to 35_ _th_ _– difference, however._

 **From:** Pokémon Lifespan: Facts, Factoids, Fiction


	8. Chapter 8: Dragons

******Disclaimer:**** ** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Dragons**

Max let a string of unintelligible grumbles slip from his mouth as he hauled himself up the rope ladder. Ash had said he needed to go north, and Max had talked Danny into taking the same route. It felt like old times, and Max liked that.

He did not like the route Ash was taking. Too much climbing, and this was the fourth or fifth rope ladder of the day. At least baltoy could lift the Pokémon egg up, he reflected as he grabbed it from the psychic-type's grip, and Ash had managed to persuade charizard into carrying the packs up. The draconic fire-type had looked like carrying the packs was beneath him, but he had relented anyway.

As Max released Danny's hand after helping him up this ledge, the charizard roared; the roar loud enough to leave ringing in Max's ears as it faded. A clang hung in the air as the packs were dropped, and a whoosh of flame told Max that charizard's tail flame was burning harder, even as he spun to see whatever had set the proud Pokémon off.

It was a small Pokémon, mouth dripping with purple venom, claw-like tail ready to strike. It showed no fear, not even when charizard took flight, mighty wing beats throwing dust up. It didn't skitter away when flames started building in charizard's mouth. Behind him, Max heard Ash climb onto the ledge.

"Charizard, stop!"

The voice came from Max's right, but it wasn't Ash who spoke up. Danny stepped forward, his left hand enlarging a pokéball. "I'll do this," he stated confidently.

Flames subsided, and charizard looked over Max's head, seeking out his trainer. Whatever Ash did, Max was not quick enough to catch, but the fire-type landed with a heavy thump and a fiery, dismissive, snort. Max didn't think he was pleased, but Ash walked up, whispering that it wouldn't be long now.

Long for what?

The thump had muffled the sound of a pokéball opening, and Max had been watching Ash and charizard interact, but a pained cry turned Max's attention back to battle. Duskull floated in the air, hovering two balls of eerie flame in front of her before sending one off to the enemy skorupi, which dodged, but an angry welt on its body meant that an earlier Will-O-Wisp had not been avoided.

It was never a real battle. Duskull stayed out of the range of the skorupi's mouth, claws, and tail, and the only time the poison-type tried a ranged attack – a volley of Pin Missile that wavered uncertainly in mid-air – she dodged, before a red glow surrounded her and the skorupi, Disabling the attack for a few minutes. Not even five minutes after Max had climbed onto the ledge, Danny had a new Pokémon, his sixth.

"Nice catch, Danny!" Ash said happily, reaching for his pack on the ground. "We're nearly to the top now. Just need to walk some more." Charizard was returned, and Ash took a few steps uphill. It was a gentle slope, but Max could still see it rise in the distance.

"Joy," Max mumbled, not enthused with the prospect of walking up a slope with a pack on his back any more than he had been three days earlier. They were high up: the air thinner than he was used to; the temperature thankfully quite a bit lower than at sea-level. The sun did beat down on them, mercilessly, and there had been no relief from it for the past few days. Even the best sunscreen they brought wasn't enough to avoid a reddish skin, but at least they weren't imitating corphish.

The part of Meteor Falls they climbed onto was home to a small lake. To the north, the falls rose a bit higher, host to a variety of powerful wild Pokémon. To the south, water fell down from the plateau, into the caverns that held the main path.

At the edge of the lake, a man, grey-haired and wearing a black coat, sat. A shelgon stood by his side, and a blue Pokémon Max didn't immediately recognise floated in the lake to the man's other side. A moment later, the sun peeked out from behind the cloud, and Max looked back at the man again, carefully not looking at the lake and the sun's reflection.

He realised who the man was a moment before Drake turned his head to see the three approach. "You make good time, Ash," he said by way of greeting. "Punctuality is a virtue, one not many of your generation understand."

"Thanks."

"No need to thank me yet," Drake replied. "We'll see how much you like me after the training." He let out a short, booming, laugh. "Of course, you relish strong battles, do you not? My Sinnoh colleagues told me you challenged two of them, and fought admirably."

The news that Ash had fought two of the Sinnoh Elite Four was news to Max. Ash'd never spoken about those battles. Before he could tell Ash off, Drake addressed him. "And you, young Max. Do you think you have what it takes to challenge the best in the future?"

"I certainly hope so!" Max stated confidently.

"Hope?" Drake echoed. "Hope is the refuge of the cautious. I cannot hope for a good wind when I sail. I must seek it out, with confidence and skill." He fixed a stare on Max. "Hope is the enemy of confidence. Do not leave to chance that which you can control."

"Okay, sir!"Max replied. A warm feeling spread throughout his body, but though he felt it, he didn't know what it was for.

"Good lad. Better to learn that now than later. Show me what you can do in December, in the League. As for you," Drake addressed Danny suddenly, "I can't recall your name, but you're Birch's nephew."

"Yes, sir," Max's best friend replied politely. "Name's Danny."

"Ah, yes, Danny. That was it. Tell me, Danny. Have you got what it takes?"

"I..." Danny started hesitantly. "I'm not as good as Ash and Max."

Max just stared at Danny after his admission. He tried to come up with something to say, but when he inhaled, Drake spoke up again.

"It seems Max disagrees," the Elite Four trainer observed. "There's a flaw in your statement, Danny. It's not about how good you are. It's about how good you can be." He returned the seadra that had been in the lake. "If you want to reach your full potential, you cannot doubt yourself. Doubt has neutered many trainers. Learn from them, work hard, and believe in yourself. That is the road to becoming a good trainer. No matter your skill." Without waiting for Danny to reply, Drake turned to face Ash. "So, Ash. Ready to start?"

"You bet!"

"Let's start with a rematch. Your pikachu and my shelgon."

 **~~§~~§~~**

The egg? Where was the egg? It had been in his arms a moment ago. He didn't remember dropping it, or putting it somewhere. It wasn't at his feet, and he couldn't see very far: it was too dark. There was no moon, no starlight, nothing. Was he inside a cave? It didn't feel like a cave.

Light! Eyes closed automatically, opening cautiously to accommodate. There the egg was! When had he put it on a pedestal of all things? Why was there a pedestal here? Where did the light shining down come from? He didn't see a lamp or anything. Wait, was that a second source of light?

The egg was glowing. It was hatching! It was hatching! He couldn't wait to see what Pokémon would come out. Maybe a poliwag, or an azurill? Or a female nidoran? Perhaps a shinx? The glow became brighter and brighter.

One moment, he'd been watching his egg hatch, the next, an eardrum-shattering roar washed into the cave. It was dark out, but a gigantic ball of flame shot across the sky beyond the cave's exit, providing light for a half-second. Then, another roar followed, and Max pressed his hands to his ears, trying to block the sound out.

Fire shot across the sky, and lightning arced back, giving brief periods of enough light in the cave. The egg was still unhatched, Max saw as he hastily shoved the blanket he'd been sleeping in in his backpack. More roars echoed in the cave, a higher-pitched roar joining the first one.

"It's dragonite and salamence fighting!" Danny yelled from the cave entrance, having sneaked a look out into the night sky. "They're—"

Something slammed into the mountain above, causing dust and stones to fall from the cave ceiling. Moments later, an attack hit the mountain, causing more of the ceiling to drop debris. "We can't stay here!" Max yelled as he shored up his pack.

"Can't leave either!" Danny returned. "Hyper Beams everywhere out there!"

Max joined Danny at the entrance, seeing the combatants for the first time. The salamence was firing attack after attack at the dragonite: Flamethrowers, Hyper Beams, something that looked like Dragon Breath, and some bluish ball that looked like Dragon Pulse. All the while, it tried to get in close as well, wings aglow in silver, a red hue surrounding salamence's entire body. It made no effort to dodge any of the dragonite's attacks.

The dragonite was avoiding most of the attacks with precise turning and dipping or rising, and blocking most of the rest with its own Dragon Breath and electric attacks. Some attacks made it through, but the orange Dragon-type just let those splash on its body.

Two sets of blue beams shot upwards, heading directly for the salamence. It rolled over in mid-air to dodge one, and stopped the other with a quick burst of flame. Moments later, its claw glowed, parting the ball of water dragonite had sent before rushing at it, claw and wings glowing bright against the night sky.

Two altaria flew into view, firing off light blue beams and orbs of pink energy, but the salamence had a preternatural sense of where and when to dodge: banking, zig-zagging, breaking downwards whenever appropriate, sending random bursts of flame and energy at the altaria, before resuming its pursuit of the dragonite, which was trying to get a good angle on the salamence itself.

"Now!" Danny said as one of the altaria was hit by a small sphere as it charged another pink orb. "Run!"

They ran for it, Danny leading the way. Max heard attacks tear through the air, and more than once, one of the altaria cried as it was hit. He couldn't tell if the salamence was being hit: the angry roars were just as angry as before, and the amount of fire shooting across the right side of Max's vision just told him that the salamence wasn't out yet.

A loud cry, followed by an extremely loud crash directly above them made them slow down and look up. Max saw the outline of something white lying on the mountain's exterior, and it wasn't moving. Rocks clattered onto the path, and Max noticed an orange glow in the corner of his eye.

Max and Danny ran for it, but the attack wasn't aimed at them. The Hyper Beam never made it to its real target – the altaria flattened into the mountain – because another Pokémon used its own Hyper Beam to intercept it, Max saw when he turned his head at the sound of the second attack firing. Eyes closed instinctively, and when he reopened them, a second dragonite dropped a rider off before flying directly at the salamence, its antennae cracking with electricity.

The rider, dressed in black and orange, snapped into motion immediately, returning the altaria with her left hand and sending out a fifth Pokémon with her right. A flygon came out, but it didn't fly off to fight the salamence. Instead, it hovered near the rider, who took a moment to look around, spotting Max.

Whatever she said was lost in the sound of attacks colliding, but the motion of her hand was clear. _Move!_

Wingbeats told Max the flygon was just behind him as he followed Danny down the mountain, coming to a stop after a minute or so more. The reason was yet another rope ladder, and the bottom was barely visible, except when the sky lit up from an attack. "You okay?" Danny asked, slightly out of breath.

"Never better," Max replied, likewise short of breath. Running at this altitude was hard, and the pack plus egg did not make it any easier. "Feels like old times." He looked at the sky. The salamence was still visible, outlined in red, but its wings weren't glowing, and multiple electric attacks came close to it.

"Old times," Danny repeated flatly. "Sometimes, Max, sometimes..."

A whoosh, followed by a crash, heralded the end of the fight. Salamence crashed into the mountainside above them, sending a shower of small rocks trickling down, but none of those came close. One orange Pokémon landed, while the other circled overhead, but the salamence gave no sign of consciousness.

The rider came into view, holding something to her ear. In the silence, her voice carried a fair distance. "... scious now. Requesting medical to come up." She listened for a bit. "No sir, not to my knowledge. There are two boys, but they appear uninjured." She took a good look at them, taking a step back when she noticed something. "A moment, please."

The rider walked up to them in fast strides, her eyes fixed on Max. "You. Put the egg down," she ordered. Max hesitated. "Now," she added, and a snap of her fingers saw the flygon get close enough to Max that he could feel its breath – hot, dry, but devoid of anything Dragon-typed – on his face. He put the egg down, carefully, and the flygon swept it into its arms a moment later. "My apologies. I'll bring them to post five. It's closest to my current position." More chatter, audible, but incomprehensible. "Understood. Sophie out."

Max wanted to protest, but the trainer gave a look that brooked no disagreement. "You two. Down the rope ladder, then follow the path until you see a wooden outpost. Go inside and stay there. I'll join you later." She took the egg from the flygon's arms. "Flygon, escort them. Make sure they don't run off."

"But..."

"No buts. Move, unless you want me to call Officer Jenny outright."

Max was of half a mind to challenge her to do it, but Danny put a hand on his arm, tugging him towards the rope ladder. "Just go there. Fix it later."

The climb down and the walk did little to cool Max off, but with a flygon following them, making sure they moved at a reasonable pace, there was nothing he could do to express his disagreement, except shoot it, and Danny, foul looks. Neither of them seemed to care.

After about ten minutes of walking down a gentle slope underneath an ever lighter sky, the side of a porch came into view, soon followed by the front of a wooden house, built into one of the caves that littered the mountain. "Dragon Clan post 5" a sign hammered onto the porch railing read. The door was open, light shining from inside.

A man stepped into the doorway, clad in the same orange and black as the other Dragon Clan trainer had been. "Good morning to you!" he said far too cheerily, waving them in. "I know it's early, but I've got breakfast if you want it. Bacon, cereal, plain toast, just ask and I might just have it!"

"Not hungry," Max mumbled angrily as he entered the fairly spacious building. A table had been set for two, and a set of Pokémon food bowls was stacked up on a small coffee table off to the side.

"Really?" the man said as he closed the door. "A boy your age who's not hungry? Not even for pancakes?"

"Pancakes?!" Danny turned so fast Max swore he teleported. "You have pancakes?"

The man nodded, taking an apron from a chair before walking to the small stove and cool box near the entrance. "Sure do. Well, not yet. Have to make them first, and there's a problem." He leaned forward, inviting Danny and Max to come closer. Danny did so, Max didn't. "I am shit at making pancakes for one person," he whispered. "I make too few or I make enough to feed my entire family of ten. Two, on the other hand, I can do, because that's normal. So if you want some, you're going to have to convince mister grumpy."

It was way too early for this. "Oh, fine," Max said before Danny could start pestering Max. "I'll have some." Besides, he hadn't had pancakes in ages either.

"Great! You go take a seat and we'll talk more when there's food on the table."

The pancakes soon caused a delicious smell to fill the room, and Max found his stomach growling as a stack of pancakes was delivered to the table, even if it was barely six in the morning. "Tuck in!"

There was no need for talk as the boys demolished the first few pancakes, and Max had just grabbed his second one – Danny was already halfway through that one, he saw – when their cook spoke up again. "Oh, I completely forgot. Please, forgive my horrible, horrible lack of manners." A chair scraped against the wooden floor as the man grabbed it, setting it at the head of the table. "My name's Nicolas. I'm a Pokémon Ranger and member of the Hoenn Dragon Clan," he introduced himself. "And may I know who are obliterating my pancakes?"

"He's Max, I'm Danny," the older boy stated after quickly, and loudly, swallowing a bite. "We're trainers from Petalburg."

"Doing the Gym Leader circuit then? Off to see old Terry in Coral Cape for a Cave Badge?" Nods greeted Nicolas. "That explains why you're on the mountain, but why are you here in my outpost, eating my delicious pancakes?" Seeing Danny swallow again, he quickly added, "Wait, wait, don't tell me. You were on the mountain when the salamence went crazy? Sleeping in a cave or something? And then Sophie rescued you and sent you here?" He leant forward. "Please tell me I'm right."

"Just two," Danny stated, and Nicolas's face fell comically. "Salamence fought with the dragonite and altaria. Lots. We just ran. No rescuing."

"A good decision," Nicolas said. "You don't want to be around enraged dragons. It's not good for your health. I've got the scars to prove it." He rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a pink trail of skin across his lower arm. "Wouldn't have them any other way. When we have a tough battle, no holds barred, it's the best feeling in the world," Nicolas said. "Adrenaline just floods your system, and the thrill of battle just takes you over, filling you with confidence and daring." He gave a wan smile. "Sometimes, overconfidence."

"How does that work?" Danny asked, curious. "Is that just your bond and you being really into it?"

Nicolas shook his head emphatically. "No. Well, kinda. It's the bond between a Dragon and its trainer. Not even all Dragons, too. Just some. Dragons thrive on combat, more so than any other type. It's why Dragons are typically so powerful. They fight, and fight, and fight, just to get better." He paused. "What do you think, Max?"

Max wasn't sure about that feeling. He felt pretty into it when fighting for a badge, and it sounded like Nicolas was just describing that. "Most Pokémon can be powerful with the right training," Max answered, thinking of many of Ash's exploits, and some of his Dad's Pokémon, like slakoth or whismur. "Dragons just have a good typing."

"Can you explain your answer?" Nicolas asked. "What makes you say that?"

Max shrugged, pushing away his plate, which made a scraping noise on the table. Two pancakes was plenty. "Dragon skin is pretty tough. Heat and electricity don't really touch it; water often just slides off, unless it's a Hydro Pump attack or something; and Grass doesn't work either. Those are four really common types, and they're only weak to Ice, Fairy, and other Dragon-type attacks. Lots of aquatic Pokémon learn some icy attack, but Dragon attacks aren't common. Besides other dragons. Fairy is the best counter, but there aren't many Fairy-type Pokémon, and they're rare in Hoenn." _Marill, ralts, jigglypuff, clefairy, togepi... Maybe a few more._ "Probably about fifteen different Fairy-type Pokémon in Hoenn?," he ventured. "Dragons just have few counters, and most of them can just absorb a lot of blows too."

Nicolas nodded, looking satisfied. "A good explanation. But that's only defence. You don't win by just defending, do you? What about their offence?"

"They hit hard, and most of them don't care if it's up close or from range. Lots of them learn control over fire..." Max trailed off, thinking of more examples. "Some of them can even learn Ice-type moves, like altaria and kingdra." He remembered something. "And dragonite can learn everything." Opposite him, Danny snorted.

"That they can," Nicolas said. "Well, not everything, but quite a lot. Had a good breakfast?" he changed tact, and the boys nodded. "Good. You have any small Pokémon that could do with some food?"

"We're rookies. We only have small Pokémon," Danny shot back, grinning. "Let them out?"

"Sure. Grab as many bowls as you need," Nicolas replied as he gathered the plates and cutlery, taking them to the kitchenette. When he returned, big sack of Pokémon food in his arms, he raised an eyebrow at the sight of all the Pokémon. "That's an eclectic collection of Pokémon. Definitely a few I wasn't expecting to see."

"Like?" Danny asked.

"Baltoy, duskull," Nicolas said, offering no explanation as he poured food into bowls. "Which ones are yours, Max?"

"Treecko, baltoy, ninjask, electrike."

"In order of capture?" Max gave a soft sound of confirmation. "Okay. I've got a problem for you to solve. Wanna do it?"

"Sure." It wasn't as if they were doing anything else while waiting for Sophie. "What is it?"

"Suppose, for a second, you come across another Dragon-type. It's a basic stage Pokémon, but it's just as enraged as the salamence, just an itty bit less destructive," Nicolas started.

"No Hyper Beams everywhere?" Danny interjected.

"None," the Dragon Clan member confirmed. "This Pokémon is bound to land, and is most adept with close-in attacks, though it knows one or two ranged options. With your Pokémon only, Max, how would you stop the dragon's rage?"

That was a tough question. The salamence was forcibly overpowered, but Max didn't have anything that worked half as well as most that was flung at it. That really left only one option. "I think... Tire it out first." Nicolas made a gesture for Max to continue. "Ninjask would need to use his speed to dodge, and same for treecko. Maybe lure it into a ramming a tree or a cliff. Baltoy could throw up rocks to hinder it. Maybe electrike could generate enough electricity to paralyse it, but that's hard."

"An interesting solution." Max couldn't read Nicolas's tone. "Decidedly non-confrontational. Why's that?"

"If it's enraged, the Dragon won't care about most of the attacks my Pokémon send at it. If you can't beat them by force, try speed and guile."

"I see. Last question. Is there anyone besides the two of you who knows you had a Pokémon egg?"

"Yes."

"Can you contact them?"

"Yes," Max said, taking the Pokénav off his belt, navigating to his – surprisingly empty, why hadn't he added some of his former classmates yet? – contacts. "Want me to… Hang on, I never said anything about an egg."

"But I did," came a voice from outside the door. A moment later, the trainer who had taken the egg away walked into the cabin. "No eggs were missing as far as we could tell."

"Excellent," Nicholas replied. "Though that raises questions why the salamence would fly into a rampage." He slung an arm around the female trainer's back. "Is everyone alright, Sophie?"

"One of the altaria got pasted into the mountain, but that's the worst. Had to intercept a Hyper Beam for it." Max remembered that happening. "Right..."

"Max," Nicholas supplied helpfully.

"Max. I believe I have something of yours." Sophie stepped aside, revealing her flygon behind her, egg cradled in its arms. When Max made to step towards the flygon, she blocked the path again. "Before you get it back, tell me something. Where did you find a rare egg such as that one?"

"Route 114."

"And you have someone that can corroborate – confirm – the story?"

"We were about to do that when you interrupted," Danny said from Max's left. "Go call Ash, Max."

Max found Ash's number, and pressed the buttons to call him and to put the output on the Pokénav's tinny speakers. The ringback tone rang through the cabin. "Ash, Ash… That name is famili..." Nicholas mused until a click interrupted the tone.

"Max?" came a sleepy-sounding voice. "'s six. Why you call?"

"Good morning, Mr. Ash," Sophie called out. "My name is Sophie Jones-Wrangler, Ranger at the Meteor Falls Dragon Reserve. Your friend Max claims that you have seen him with a Pokémon egg."

"'s right." Max suppressed a smile at Ash's, admittedly diminishing, sleepiness. "Found it off route 114, week or so ago?"

Sophie nodded. "And what colour is it?"

"Blue and grey," Ash replied instantly. "He's not in trouble, is he? Can you put him on?"

Max didn't wait for Sophie's approval. "Morning Ash. How's training?"

"Brutal like you wouldn't believe. Pikachu has bruises on his bruises. Drake's a harsh taskmaster." A sleeping bag scraped over rocky ground. "What did you do to get mixed up with Rangers, Max?"

"To summarise, Mr. Ash, I confiscated the egg after helping the boys escape a rampaging salamence. I mistakenly thought that the egg could have been a trigger for the dragon's wrath," Sophie admitted. "I found out that is not the case, but it is Ranger policy to check the source of protected eggs regardless."

"Right. So the egg is Max's egg. Can he have it back now?"

"Of course." Sophie stepped aside, and the flygon offered the egg without hesitation. "Thank you for your time, and apologies for waking you up."

"No problem," Ash spoke forgivingly. "Max? Call when you're in a Center or when the egg hatches. Drake wanted to talk."

That took Max aback. "Drake? Why?"

"To tell you all about caring for young bagon, of course."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Pokémon Rangers protect specific areas. Often, the Pokémon in there are of the same type or have some sort of relationship with each other. Hoenn has six such areas protected by Rangers. They'll help you, but only if you don't upset the local Pokémon! If you do, you could be in a lot of trouble!_

From: Kinds of Pokémon Trainers, Kid Edition.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : No more Ash for now, and one new team member. And a rampaging Pokémon, but those were fairly common for Ash and company anyway. Max isn't too bothered once they're out of danger. Danny is rather less used to it.


	9. Chapter 9: Footsteps

******Disclaimer:**** ** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Footsteps**

Bone and blade clashed, grinding against each other before the two fighting Pokémon, at an unspoken signal, disengaged simultaneously. Both of them had got some good hits in earlier in the fight: the Gym Leader's marowak had landed its club on Max's grovyle twice, and a Bonemerang had all but made the grass-type's left arm useless. The grovyle had been able to pepper the marowak with a hail of seeds, and some of his slashing Leaf Blades had left visible marks on the ground-type's belly hide.

Danny thought marowak had the upper hand, though. It seemed fresher, despite dispatching a tired baltoy beforehand, and despite the type disadvantage. Then again, it knew Ice Beam. He shook his head. Ice Beam. On a pure ground-type. And then the vibrava before, which also negated some of the normal ground weaknesses. It wasn't easy.

Grovyle shot forward after Max said something. Danny missed the exact message: grovyle had been close to Max, but he recognised the pattern. A double feint, starting right, and bingo. Grovyle latched onto marowak's bone arm with both hands, though feebly in one case, and its fingers lit up, draining energy.

The marowak drove its skull and head into grovyle's chest in response. The grass-type fell with an audible thump, but rolled out of his skid backwards, emerging into a crouch, right hand on the ground as support. If anything, it looked worse off than before, more so than marowak.

That was when green energy, trace amounts at first, then blossoming into a full aura, swirled around the grovyle. Overgrow had activated, giving Max's Pokémon a second wind, and he launched into a Leaf Blade immediately. The attack connected, but marowak swung wildly with its club, forcing grovyle back before a second attack could land. A Bonemerang was the follow-up, and both Pokémon took up position near their own trainers.

"Giga Impact!" ordered the Coral Cape Gym Leader, just after Max had ordered another Leaf Blade. Purple and orange energy quickly formed around marowak, roaring in the hall, and though Max called for grovyle to dodge, he didn't, and the two met head on, both attacks connecting.

The match was over. Max's grovyle had slumped on the ground, its muscles relaxing in unconsciousness. There was movement on the other side, but even as Danny jerked his head around, the marowak couldn't push itself up either. "Grovyle and marowak are both knocked out. The match is a draw," declared the referee, voice loud and clear from the other side of the arena.

Danny took off the protective goggles he'd been provided – the ground-type Gym had loose soil and probably a lot of sandstorms, which were bad for your eyes – and walked to the middle, stepping around holes in the ground as he did so.

"A good battle," Terry said as he shook Max's hand. "You are aware of what happens when the battle is drawn?"

Danny wasn't, actually, but Max was. "The Gym Leader decides that."

"You are, of course, correct. I expected nothing less." Terry stuck his hand into his vest. "And it is my decision that you should get this badge. You were resourceful, trusted your Pokémon, and had good knowledge of what could and could not be done, for all Pokémon in the battle. Well done, Max." He held out the black and brown badge, shaped like a cave's entrance, and Max studied it for a second before closing his fist around it. "Come. Let us have a drink while my Pokémon fix the arena. We'll discuss the battle," Terry added, gesturing towards a side door.

Three minutes, two milkshakes, and a mug of coffee later, they sat in the cafeteria overlooking the battlefield. Danny saw diglett and dugtrio pop in and out of view as they moved soil around, removing holes, remaking rocks. A couple of the Gym's trainers had wanted to approach them, but the grey-haired Gym Leader had stopped that. "One thing I noticed, Max, is that your Pokémon stuck to very common and typical moves. Is there a reason for that?" Terry asked.

"We've been working on playing to their strengths," Max admitted. "We're not good enough for weird stuff yet."

"Not everything needs to be as 'weird' as what your Sinnoh League champion friend does, Max." Terry smiled at them, warmly. "You should look into expanding your Pokémon's movesets with some curve balls. Nothing complicated about that, and if one of your Pokémon already knows the attack you want to use, so you can enlist its aid in teaching the move to others."

"Which moves are good for that?" Danny wondered. "Before we spend time teaching a rhydon to swim." That prompted an amused chuckle. "What?"

"Some rhydon have actually learned Surf," Terry explained, shocking Danny. "But your point stands. Common moves are Shadow Ball, Iron Tail and Steel Wing, Earthquake, and even Ice Beam. There is also Hidden Power, which approximately every Pokémon on the planet is capable of using with tutoring." Terry drained his mug. "There are more moves, of course. It's a trainer's duty to find out which moves are worthwhile to teach.

"Now come. Let us find out if I have to give out two badges today."

Goggles in place, Danny faced the Gym Leader across the repaired arena. As one, both took out a single Pokéball, before throwing them, revealing their first Pokémon for the two-on-two battle.

Danny sent out duskull, and when he shifted his focus from catching the returning Pokéball to the field, he saw that she was facing a larvitar. He was tempted to use his Pokédex to find out if it had moves to deal with ghosts, but then he remembered its final evolution. Tyranitar were part Dark-type.

Danny let Terry have the first move, only telling duskull to remain at a distance. He knew larvitar were fairly slow, and had no way of catching up to a floating opponent.

The first move was Sandstorm. Danny wasn't too surprised by that. Within seconds, the arena was filled with sand circling in the air, small grains hitting his face and clothes. It was pretty ferocious, but Danny didn't think it would be a problem for duskull.

Then the larvitar seemed to melt into the storm. That was odd. "Careful! Be ready to counter!" he called.

One larvitar shot from the curtain of sand, mouth opened to bite the ghost, but duskull had no problems dodging it. It vanished into the sand again, but moments later, another larvitar shot out, from a different angle. It hit duskull, except it passed through the ghost. "That's a Double Team," Danny called out. "Foresight, then attack!"

Red light swept over the arena, revealing larvitar moving in from duskull's right, its outline now clearly visible inside the sandstorm. It jumped, but the ghost flipped over it, and as the heavy Pokémon landed with a thud, duskull sent a burst of concentrated flame at its back, scoring a direct hit. The larvitar threw a loose rock in retaliation, but the ghost had floated away, firing a Shadow Ball, and scoring a glancing hit after it had done so.

"… Pulse," was all Danny heard Terry shout, but a look at larvitar's tiny arms told him enough. Purple energy, Dark-type energy, gathered at its tips, and larvitar soon sent three consecutive beams of it spiralling at duskull. None hit, though the last one came close. The larvitar started collecting the energy again after that.

"Really wish she knew Shadow Sneak," Danny muttered. "Get in close and Night Shade!"

One beam clipped duskull on the side as she flew in, sending the Night Shade slightly off-centre. It hit the energy dancing on larvitar's paws, causing the two energies to react to another, violently. Duskull rode the resulting shock wave back, while larvitar, heavy as it was, didn't move much. A cry told Danny that it was probably hurt, but how much, he couldn't tell.

A rock flew at duskull, but it was horribly off-target, as was the second one. Duskull didn't even have to dodge, though she did anyway, to avoid them. Then, Danny saw why that was: the larvitar had been throwing rocks with its other hand, and it didn't look like it was ambidextrous. He could work with that. "Shadow Ball barrage!"

Duskull took the offensive, sending ball after ball of purple energy at the fairly immobile Rock Skin Pokémon. They weren't powerful, Danny knew, but the amount meant that larvitar had trouble dodging, instead scrambling to a nearby rock for cover. About half had hit fully, and a few more had scored glancing hits. Danny ordered duskull to stop, and stay at a distance.

Larvitar's right paw was hurt, and by keeping his distance, Danny reasoned, he'd force the Gym Leader to either reveal a new attack, or to attack from behind the rock. "Right side, duskull," he ordered, as quietly as he could while still making himself heard to the ghost-type.

He'd meant it as a caution, but duskull took it as an attack order, and a Night Shade flew at the rock's right side, right as larvitar revealed its left paw, Dark-type energy dancing on it once more. Once again, the violent reaction sent a shock wave through the arena, but this time, duskull was barely affected, while larvitar let out a louder cry than before.

Terry returned his Pokémon, giving Danny a thumb up from across the arena. Danny wasn't sure why, but being 1-0 up wasn't something he was going to complain about, and he waited for the other Pokémon to be sent out.

His second opponent was a gligar. Ground/Flying, Danny recalled. He always felt that was a weird typing. It'd be fast enough to challenge duskull in the air, and tough enough to rough it with marshtomp. He didn't remember gligar's moveset all that well, but knowing Terry, it had something weird.

The sandstorm had subsided somewhat, luckily, and gligar didn't start it up again, instead going straight for duskull. It was pretty fast, and duskull nearly got caught by its claws before dropping straight down, causing the gligar to swoop over the ghost-type.

Its stinger went into duskull's face, probably missing the eye. Danny hadn't seen if the stinger had been glowing purple, but that didn't matter, because now duskull was distracted for just a bit, which was all Terry had wanted. He ordered gligar to get in close, and it did just that, landing, turning on its feet, and jumping in again, attacking with tooth, claw, and stinger.

Duskull weren't meant to be good in close combat. Danny kept an eye out for flashes of colour from the claws and stingers, and saw at least one purple glow that wasn't poison or ghost-type as gligar pummelled duskull, giving chase relentlessly every time the ghost tried to slip away. Duskull did get in a few half-formed attacks, but they weren't enough to even push the gligar off, let alone beat it.

The match was, once again, tied, and Danny returned duskull. She'd done her best.

He eyed the Pokémon standing near Terry. Gligar were fairly agile, which was marshtomp's biggest weakness whenever Danny practised against Max. He didn't think plastering mud in its eyes would help either: Terry probably had that happen a lot in his training, and marshtomp couldn't defend forever. Gligar would manage to hit at some point, using its speed and agility. If only Danny could stop tha…

Of course. Danny grinned as he recalled the general type match-ups. Why use marshtomp. "Snorunt, let's go!" Moments later, as the referee signalled to resume, he ordered an immediate Powder Snow.

Glittering snow replaced the slowly whirling sandstorm in the Gym. Gligar launched itself into the air, and while it didn't stop on hitting the cold, Danny saw it flinch slightly. It also missed snorunt as it dove in, but that had more to do with the ice-type hopping out of the way.

"Icy Wind!" A more concentrated blast of cold shot towards gligar, clipping it on its legs as it jumped straight up to dodge. Good. "Keep away. Keep going!"

Defending by keep-away. Danny was happy Ash had taken some time to help snorunt with that. It worked like a charm. The snow and ice was slowly starting to take over the arena, making every landing and take-off harder for gligar, while not hindering snorunt. She was hit once, but the claw to her side didn't stop her from using an Ice Fang in return.

After that, gligar started keeping its own distance from snorunt. Poison Stings rained down on snorunt, but Icy Wind neutralised most of them, also forcing gligar to keep moving. The ones that weren't cancelled out plinked harmlessly on the ground. "You're doing great!"

Terry ordered something, and again, Danny saw purple energy start to dance on the opponent's claws, paws, whatever. Gligar released one beam, its aim true, and Danny saw it crouch, ready to jump at wherever snorunt was going to dodge. "Watch out!"

Snorunt dodged left, easily avoiding the Dark Pulse, but the gligar was more of a problem. A punch or two hit the small ice-type almost before landing from its dodge, and the gligar's stinger came in from the right side, aglow with poison.

It bounced off a green shield with a muffled whomp, unbalancing the gligar as its tail swung back. Protect, a move that snorunt had had a lot of trouble with for the last month or so, had worked perfectly, completely stopping gligar's attack. "Get it!" Danny ordered, and snorunt spun, releasing a flurry of icy shards. At close range, and unbalanced, gligar stood no chance of dodging any of the projectiles. It fell backwards, one claw on the ground, one arm useless by its side. "Icy Wind, finish!" Danny yelled.

The Icy Wind never hit, because Terry returned gligar before it could.

"Excellent work," Terry said as they met a minute or so later, Danny shivering slightly from hugging his cold Pokémon. "A defensive style, but a good grasp on timing and breaking cover served you well. I almost feel I went too easy on you," he added, smiling. "Though possibly, that is my ego hurting from being soundly beaten by someone a fifth my age." His hand went into his vest. "This is yours."

Danny accepted the badge, blushing slightly at the praise. He made to say something, but a shrill whistle interrupted him. "Alas, I must be off," Terry said. "If I may, I'd like to give both of you a final tip."

Both boys nodded in acceptance. Danny wondered what Terry would tell them: none of the other Gym Leaders had done something like this.

"Danny, I'll start with you. Keep practising this style. Far too many young trainers focus on attacking without restraint. To see a new trainer like you understand the value of waiting and patience gladdens me. And don't blush," he added, making Danny's ears burn even harder. "It is a rare find, both refreshing and, to others, perhaps surprising. Make use of that.

"Max. Diversify. Start now, and reap the rewards all the sooner. It'll allow you to keep control of the battle, and as with Danny, expectations are that you didn't. Perception can work in your favour too, and if you want to follow in your friend's footsteps, you should use every advantage you can get." He paused, taking a moment to look at both Max and Danny, eyes serious. "To be at this level, with the official experience you have, is astounding, for both of you. Work hard, work diligently, and don't get arrogant. If you do that, who knows when or where your stories end."

 **~~§~~§~~**

In suburban Petalburg, a phone rang, and the Gym Leader that resided there answered it after three rings. He only needed a second to recognise the caller once video was established. "Max! Good to see you, son! How'd your battle with Terry go? Did you win?"

"I didn't win, Dad."

"You lost?" The Gym Leader's eyes went wide, before he noticed his son's face. "Oh, I see you smirking. You got one through a draw, didn't you?" A badge case came into view, showing the five Hoenn badges his son had acquired. "Well, a draw is still a draw, and Terry is a wily old fox. Been a Gym Leader almost as long as I've been alive."

"That long?" Max seemed a little surprised. "Wow. He's ancient."

"As old as your grandfather." Who didn't look a day over Norman's age. "And isn't everyone over twenty ancient to you pre-teens? A challenger called me ancient today." In jest, after some smart aleck remarks.

"Well, you are," Max said, sticking out his tongue the same way he'd done when younger. Then, a different expression, but one Norman knew. "Dad?"

"What is it, son?"

"After the battle..." Max started, before interrupting himself, his jaw set in a way Norman knew was because the boy was biting his lip. "Terry said… He said that it's 'astounding' for us to be at this level."

Terry praised often, but never without cause. It was a trait Norman had always liked about the genial senior Gym Leader, but it felt like there was more to this. "Yes? What is it?"

"It's just… People expect things. Expect me to go far. To do great. To be as good as..." _Steven Stone_ , Norman mentally added. "Danny too. Just because we're—"

"That's how things are," Norman interrupted. "I know," he added, holding hands up apologetically. "It's nonsensical. But people aren't always logical."

"They should be," Max mumbled with all the indignant bluster only pre-teens could muster.

Time to pop a bubble. "You weren't when Ash came to Petalburg."

That got him glared at. "I was nine. What's their excuse?"

Norman sighed, resisting the temptation to pinch the bridge of his nose. "None. Look, Max," he said, deciding to switch tactics, "you shouldn't listen to them. It's your journey, yours and Danny's alone. What others think is not important."

The call lasted for a few more minutes, but soon, Norman was alone again, his wife out for the night, and his daughter out somewhere between where he was and where Max was, off to help one of her friends train for the upcoming Hoenn Grand Festival. They were good kids, both of them, and Norman felt Caroline and himself had done right by them.

Yet, for all the good reports about and results for his children, there was something he'd missed, and he didn't know what it was.

 **~~§~~§~~**

May loved the seaside. The sand, soothingly slipping between her toes; the sea, normally blue, but now slowly colouring orange; and above all, the smells, which never failed to soothe her. She'd love to get into the sea and swim freely, Pokémon at her side, but she was waiting for someone, and she needed to watch the road.

It had nothing to do with the sign that warned for tentacool. Nothing.

Okay. A little.

He saw her before she saw them."May!" her brother yelled, in that same voice she'd heard him use the last time they spoke, on his birthday. Turning, May saw her brother slide his pack off his back before running up and hugging her., which she gladly returned. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Dad told me you were coming here, and I was nearby, so I decided I wanted to see my little brother on his journey," May said, looking her brother over. He looked pretty healthy, decently tanned and all. "I see you're still using the same clothing."

"And you're still wearing the same bandana," Max shot back as they walked back to the road, May carrying her sandals. Max's best friend was waiting for them, grinning even more goofily than May had seen him do before. "Thanks Danny."

Danny shrugged. "Pokémon Center?" he asked, in a voice deeper than May remembered. He was taller too. May just about looked him in the eyes, but she was still a bit taller than Max. "I need a shower."

"So does Max," May said after nodding. "You need one, little brother," she added, remembering the numerous times that she or Brock had had to tell him to take a shower. Ash had somehow been even worse.

"I know," Max said, taking May by surprise. It probably showed, too. "What's the matter, sis? Didn't expect me to know that?"

"Well..." May made a show of fake thinking. "No."

They shared details en route to the Center. Max and Danny told her about their Gym battles, and tournaments they'd participated in, and May told them about her good Johto Grand Festival results: she'd ended up in the top four again, and she'd defeated Solidad. That still brought a smile to her face. She also told them about her new Pokémon: Max knew about swablu, but he didn't know vaporeon and ivysaur had evolved, and that she'd caught a skiploom.

"What are you going to do now?" Danny asked as they enjoyed a late dessert in the Pokémon Center lobby. Then, the jingle indicating that a new batch of Pokémon had been fully healed played, prompting Danny to jump up, ice-cream in one hand, to see if the boys' Pokémon were among them.

"I was thinking about entering the Hoenn Grand Festival again," May answered as the boys took their Pokéballs off the tray Danny had delivered. "Try to reach the final and be close to Mom and Dad." She'd missed her family in Johto, but she wouldn't want to travel with Max. She knew her brother wouldn't like that.

Max nodded. He probably understood her. "Why not go to Sinnoh?" Danny asked. "You haven't been there yet."

"I am not going to Sinnoh. It's way too cold there!" She nearly shivered at the thought of it. "I like snow, but they have too much of it. Kanto and Johto were cold enough in winter."

"I liked it," her brother said, shrugging the same way Ash did. "Hey, May, want to see our Pokémon?"

She had wondered what her brother had caught. Dad had teased her, saying that she wouldn't expect some of his Pokémon at all. She knew he left with treecko, and that the ralts was gone. The electrike was no surprise: May remembered her grandfather giving Max an electrike plushie for his seventh birthday.

Baltoy was a surprise, but when Max said it was from Izabe, May understood. She also understood why Max had a ninjask: it was a Pokémon Ash would love, and she knew Ash was a role model for her brother. "And this last one might surprise you, sis," Max said with a grin when May looked at him, waiting for him to release more: she'd seen him take five balls off the tray. Out came a blue Pokémon that Max immediately picked up. A bagon? May didn't know where Max would have got a bagon. It was pretty young if Max could still lift it up like he did. "Found an Egg. He's a handful, but it's amazing."

"Eats way too much," Danny added drily. Max just made a waving gesture. "We found an Egg off Route 114, and some of the Rangers near Meteor Falls helped figure everything out."

"How old is he?"

"Eleven days," Max said after a short pause. "I think. Didn't exactly check if it was before or after midnight when the Egg hatched." He returned most of his Pokémon, leaving the bagon out.

"After. I checked my Pokénav." Danny fiddled with his belt. "Want to see my Pokémon too?"

May just nodded, still watching her brother hold the bagon, but flashes of light drew her attention before long. Marshtomp and snorunt brought back memories, but then, a purple floating Pokémon came out, and May inhaled sharply. "What is it, sis?"

May shook her head rapidly, forcing memories back. "Sorry. Just a bad experience. It's okay," she added. "You don't have to put it away. It's fine."

Danny's other Pokémon were okay, but May was still glad when the duskull was returned to its ball. She knew it was just a reaction to what had happened, and that this duskull wasn't the same one, but having your dream eaten and waking up to see that one eye hovering over you… It sent shivers down her spine, even a week after it had happened.

There was a glint in her brother's eyes. May knew that glint, and about half an hour after they'd retreated to their own rooms, after May had taken a relaxing shower, someone knocked on the door. "Come in Max."

"Hey May," her brother said as he walked in, bagon trailing behind him. "This one didn't want to leave me." He sat down next to her on her bed, the bagon climbing onto his lap. The mattress sunk slightly with each addition.

"You are his Daddy," May said, happy to tease her brother. The glare she received in return was ruined by Max's smile as the bagon got comfortable against him. "I should get a picture. It's cute."

"Ask Danny. He has a few." Max shifted, turning towards May the best he could. "What happened, sis?"

May explained how all the ghost Pokémon in and around town, around three dozen in total, had suddenly decided to start messing with humans, one early, early morning, a week back. Eating dreams, using Lick or Hypnosis or Nightmare… May had had her dream eaten by something, and then the duskull was floating over her when she woke up. Her scream woke up her roommate, too. Oddly, it hadn't actually resulted in anyone physically hurt, but it was the talk of the town the days after, and it had been that when May had left. "And the weirdest thing was that they weren't all wild Pokémon. Some trained Pokémon also did it."

"Trained Pokémon?" Max said, eyes boring holes into May's. "Are you sure?"

"That duskull I mentioned? That's Veronica's duskull." As she found out when her friend had returned it to its pokéball. "And I heard about a boy's shuppet doing the same thing." Her brother had gotten a far-away look in his eyes. "Max?"

"Oh, right, sorry. Weird," came Max's answer. "And they didn't do it again?" May shook her head. "And this was in..."

"Petal Grove. About three days from here. Why?"

"So we can take another route," Max said before yawning. "Huh. Time for bed, I think." He prodded bagon, which jumped off Max's lap. "Night sis." He rose, and made to leave.

May stood up as well, and hugged her brother. "Night Max."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"Ghost Pokémon, wild and captured, doing things to people? That sounds like..."

"I thought the same."

"Call Ash? Let him know?"

"Tomorrow. He told me Drake wakes him up at dawn."

"Better him than us."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

" _Many Ghosts are tricksters, or pranksters, or just fun-loving. Don't be surprised if your Ghost-type pops up from behind a tree at night: it's their idea of having fun. They are Pokémon, though, and what may seem funny to them might not be funny for you. If your Pokémon does that, just tell them to stop. Ghosts are some of the smarter Pokémon, and they're fine with restrictions, as long as they can still indulge from time to time."_

Phoebe of the Hoenn Elite Four, lecturing on Ghost-types.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And that is five.


	10. Chapter 10: Rescue

******Disclaimer:**** ** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Rescue  
**

"And that's number seven," Danny said as he stooped, picking up a pokéball from the grass. A moment later, the technology in the capsule recognised that it was the seventh filled capsule with the same trainer ID, and it vanished, appearing in one of the rooms in Professor Birch's lab. "Always wanted one of these."

"You want an exploud," Max corrected, "and whismur is the first step to it. It'll be a while before you have one."

"Says the guy with a dragon-type." An aggressive beat, drums and guitars, came from Danny's hip. "Wonder who… Oh." Danny put the Pokénav to speaker mode as Max walked up. "Hi uncle. What's up?"

"Just wanted to congratulate you with your new whismur. Seven Pokémon already." The Professor whistled, though the Pokénav speakers mangled the sound. "You want to switch it in soon?"

"No." Danny was resolute. "We're days away from the next Center, and I roughed it up pretty badly." It had fought tooth and nail, and Max's ears were still ringing from the Screech it had unleashed at some point. "Just let it heal, I suppose."

"As you wish. Is Max nearby?"

"Of course Professor."

"You're not taking as long as your sister did, right?"

His sister, who had taken about a year and a half to capture seven Pokémon. A laugh bubbled up, escaping before Max took the time to answer. "No, Professor. I just haven't seen wild Pokémon I want recently. Bagon's been a handful, too."

"I can only imagine. Drake and Reginald have both repeatedly shared stories of their dragon-types." The Professor let out a sigh. "I just wish I could see them in a fully natural habitat, but dragons are notoriously territorial, as you know." That they did. "Anyway, good luck, and I'll speak to you in a few days. Bye!"

"Bye!" the boys said, and a click indicated the end of the call; the Pokénav returning to the previous setting, which was the clock. It was close to four in the afternoon, with an overcast sky and a strong breeze coming in from the sea twenty miles west. "Camp?" Danny suggested.

"Camp."

They found a cliff to hide under, rock sheltering them from the breeze. Max and baltoy set up camp, the Pokémon pushing a few pegs deep into the rock and ground to fasten the large cloth, white, but slightly weather-worn, that served as shelter, while Danny collected enough dry material to light a fire.

The weather turned worse as the night progressed and the air became almost palpably charged as the breeze died down. They added two more pieces of cloth to the sides of their shelter, making sure they could at least sleep without being rained on, and Danny, citing general tiredness, went to sleep early, a bit past sundown. Even breathing soon reached Max's ears as he looked out of the shelter.

Duskull and bagon were playing a silent, but amusing to them, game to his right, and grovyle, coming out unsolicited, was doing the same thing as Max was: watching with a small smile on his face. Max knew grovyle had taken a shine to the new addition in the team, though why he could not tell. Nevertheless, he welcomed his starter's willingness to help the young Pokémon, just as he appreciated the grovyle's presence now.

He felt… Antsy. He knew he should go to bed, but something kept him up, kept him thinking. Not all of them were happy thoughts, either. It wasn't just his mind that refused to stop thinking, however. There was something else. It wasn't the incoming thunderstorm: electrike would deal with that as she had done several times previous, redirecting dangerous bolts of lightning a safe distance away.

Just as he was telling himself he should really go to bed, amidst ferocious pitter-patter on the cloth, a bolt of lightning struck reasonably nearby. That was not what caught Max's attention. What did was a soft sound: almost too soft to hear, yet strangely insistent and periodic. It reminded Max of something, prompting him to shake his head to dislodge the feeling of déjà vu.

Then the sound suddenly exploded in his mind; a painful cry, devolving into whimpering. It wasn't a human sound, or human cries. A Pokémon had been hurt nearby.

Sleep vanished in an instant as the keening sound repeated itself, and Max stepped to the edge of the shelter, whistling with his fingers as loud he could. While he was waiting for electrike to show up, he quickly knelt by his pack, taking out a powerful torch. His foot hit something, but he paid it no mind.

"Max? Wuzzat?" Danny, seemingly half-asleep, said. "Wha' doin?"

"There's a hurt Pokémon nearby." Torch, pokéballs, and a yip told him electrike was here. "I heard it." He rose, releasing grovyle as he did, and made to walk out. "Get the first aid kit."

If Danny said anything, it was lost between the falling rain, the cloth, and a crack of thunder. After a moment of listening, Max ran off, grovyle and electrike on his heels, in the opposite direction from where they'd come from earlier that day.

Sidestepping a small hole, he took a moment to slow down and look around. The ground was fairly flat all around him, with few places to hide in sight. Still, no Pokémon was visible. "Electrike, keep the lightning away. Grovyle, help me look for the Pokémon." The high-pitched whimpering was louder now, but weaker. That wasn't good. "You go left. Stay in my sight."

"Gro." The Grass-type sped off, faster than Max could run, and Max resumed his own search, torch aimed at the ground, looking for some sign, some indication of injury: blood, fur, shed skin, anything would do. He saw nothing, except the reflected shine of light in puddles growing as he watched.

A green flash of light, in the corner of his eye. He turned to face it, seeing another green flash surge across the land, towards him, though it died out before even coming close. Was grovyle fighting? Max ran to the light, one hand grasping baltoy's pokéball in case grovyle needed help.

He wasn't fighting. Instead, he was standing over a small figure – a Pokémon – lying face-down. Normally pink, a scorch mark was smoking on the Pokémon's back, and the ground in the direct area was slightly charred. "Lightning strike," Max murmured. It was in the opposite direction of where he'd told electrike to redirect. "Grovyle, take this." He held out the torch, and when it was accepted, he put both his arms under the small Pokémon.

It was light, far lighter than even his pack, but it felt alive. Shuddering, hesitant, shallow breaths ran through the clefairy, but it was alive still. He adjusted his hold, trying not to think of the last time he'd cradled a Pokémon like this. "Lead us to camp," he ordered. He had an idea of where it was, but the darkness and the rain falling against his glasses or into his eyes did a lot to hinder him.

He need not have worried, as a second source of light, Danny's own torch, shone toward them after a minute's run. They followed the light, and when they found Danny, camp was at the edge of visibility, mainly due to the torch's light reflecting off it. Danny took a single look. "Lightning strike?" he asked, even as they started moving again, walking briskly.

"Yes. Charred ground and all."

They'd reached shelter. "C'mon. In you go." Danny waved them in first, and as Max put the clefairy down on the first appropriate thing – his sleeping bag – he heard Danny whistle loudly before coming in. "What you need?"

"Cheri Berry, water, cloth." Those were the most important. He tried to remember what Brock had told him about treating electric strikes in Pokémon, but before he could, a wet cloth was pressed into his left hand.

The moment he touched it to the wound, the clefairy cried out in pain. It started thrashing about on the sleeping bag, and Max's cloth was knocked out of his hand by the unexpected movement. The thrashing turned it over on its back, showing pain-glazed eyes and resulting in an even louder screech of pain as its damaged wings were squished between the ground and itself. Max quickly lifted it, taking care to not touch the wound, and the screeching died down, replaced by whimpering. "Not paralysed, then."

The wound was in need of cleaning, still, but how to do that. He couldn't hold it down, and he needed Danny to grab supplies. They were a few hands short, and grovyle was providing light with the torch. They needed some way to stop it from moving, to keep it locked in pl…. Of course! Max adjusted his grip, quickly tapping a pokéball to release baltoy. "Keep the clefairy still once it's on the sleeping bag," he ordered.

"Tell it to be still?" Danny asked.

"No. It's in shock. It's pure instinct." They were lucky the clefairy hadn't blasted them with an attack yet. "I don't like this either, Danny, but we have to." Without waiting for Danny to object, he put the clefairy down. "Cloth." He held out a hand and got the wash cloth. "Start it, baltoy."

The psychic field made it harder to clean the wound, but the clefairy didn't move a lot, luckily. A look left told Max that baltoy was using a lot of power to keep the Fairy-type contained, and after a minute or two, the field started dimming, though it coincided with Max finishing up the last careful wipe of the wash cloth. The wound, though cleaner, looked worse if anything now that dust and dirt didn't obscure it, but it was smaller than Max had thought.

"Nasty," Danny commented, kneeling to examine the wound. "No bone, though."

Softly flowing blood, unclogged by the removal of the dirt and the addition of water droplets, did start spreading across the wound, but Max paid it no mind as he dove into the medicine they had. "De-frost, no. Potions, no. Burn cream… Can't be used on bleeding wounds. Shit." He dug deeper, but found nothing that was immediately useful. "This is bad."

"Capture it?" Danny suggested. "It's risky, but..."

"It's too risky. There must be _something_ we can do..." He rifled through the medicine laid out on the ground next to the clefairy. A plastic box filled with green caught his eye. "Is that… Heal Powder? Where did we get that?"

"Picked some up in Fortree. I think. When we were out of Cheri Berries," Danny said, even as Max took the box, prying it open. "What are you planning?"

"Get some thin cloth and some water," Max ordered as he dove into his own pack, taking out a bowl and a small spoon. "I'm going to try to make a poultice."

Max knew Heal Powder was able to counter paralysis, poison, and sleep. Brock had told him that, explaining it over mixing the powder into the food of one of his Pokémon after some Team Rocket fight. Bitter, but very effective, he had called it.

Max wasn't sure if it could also be used to treat burns, but he had to try. The clefairy's life depended on it.

The thunderstorm died down, leaving the tent silent as Max mixed lukewarm water – the only kind they had – with powder to create a fairly solid paste that filled about half the bowl. When he was satisfied, he took another small spoon, and spread it out over one layer of cloth, making sure that little paste leaked through the material. Then, he pressed the second layer of cloth on the first, carefully, and he tied up the edges with some adhesive bandages. "Well, here goes."

Clefairy reacted to Max pressing something to its back, stiffening under Max's fingers, but it didn't scream, and when Max retracted his fingers, it relaxed again. It kept shivering every few seconds, which it had done ever since Max had stopped cleaning the wound, but it seemed… calmer. More at ease.

A minute or two passed in utter silence, except for electrike entering, fur brushing against Max's legs as she walked past him to take a good look at clefairy. "It's working."

"How do you know that?"

"It's shivering less, breathing more." Max looked at Danny, unsure how he had figured that out. He hadn't noticed anything. "I counted shivers and breaths."

That made sense. "We did it?"

"You did it," Danny corrected, before suddenly grabbing both of Max's shoulders, hands pressing into the flesh, nearly painfully so. "Don't do that again, Max."

"Do what?" Max asked, unsure what to make of the look on Danny's face. He nearly looked angry, but he wasn't. The height difference didn't help either. "Danny?"

"Go out alone, into a raging thunderstorm, you stupid idiot!" A lance of anger shot through Max, but then Danny hugged him, both arms and all, and he felt… trembling? "Wait next time. We'll think of something. Make it safer."

"I had electrike," Max offered as Danny stepped back, some colour creeping into his cheeks. "She kept me safe."

Danny sat down, and Max saw he was still shaking. "I know. It's just..." He closed his mouth, clearing his throat. "Electrike isn't perfect." That got a bark from the small green Pokémon by Max's feet. " _That_ could have been _you._ "

"But it wasn't!" Max countered as he sat down, gently touching electrike's fur in case it was still statically charged. It wasn't. "I've been in worse, too."

"Legendary-grade danger, multiple times, right?" Danny quoted. "That doesn't make it okay!" The older boy drew his knees up against him, hugging them. "I… I'm sorry."

"For what? Being worried?" Max sat down opposite Danny, electrike jumping into his lap.

"For yelling at you." Danny shot a weird look at Max as the younger boy started chuckling. "What?"

"You're sorry about that?" Max managed to get out just before another round of chuckling burst forth. "Really?"

"Yes!"

The chuckles were gone, though an amused feeling spread through Max's body. "Don't be. You have no idea how often we yelled at each other for whatever reason. Kinda used to it."

"Even Brock?" Danny sounded disbelieving. "Wasn't he the responsible adult one?"

"That just meant he yelled at us more." Max took the torch from grovyle, who'd sat down beside his trainer a moment before. "He would've told me off as well for… this." Max's hand made a circle in the air. "He would have understood, but he wouldn't have liked it."

"Understood what?"

Max waited a few seconds to collect his thoughts, idly scratching electrike's back. "That none of us would run away from a Pokémon in pain," he said at length. "That we'd help them, and, especially for Ash, screw the risks. Of course," he added, "most of _that_ was Team Rocket stealing pikachu, but not all of it was."

The two boys sat in silence after that, watching the clefairy breathe slowly, but fairly evenly. Max checked the paste he'd made, seeing that there was probably enough left for another poultice, but before he could move to start making it, Danny spoke up. "Last time we talked about Legendaries…" his friend began hesitatingly. "You said there was one more. The worst one, you said."

"Yes," Max replied, voice neutral. The last time they'd talked about that, about LaRousse, had been in the cave in Meteor Falls, hours before the raging salamence drove them off the mountain.

"I want to hear about it."

"Are you—"

"Yes." Danny laughed, but it sounded empty. "Already freaked out once tonight. What's one more, y'know?"

"If you insist," Max muttered, before speaking up in a louder voice. "It all began with a tournament at Cameran Palace..."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"And here she is," said Professor Birch as a pink Pokémon hopped onto the desk in his Littleroot laboratory. The clefairy, bandage around her midsection, gave a cheerful wave. "Mostly healed, too. The wound will scar, Nurse Joy thinks, but it's better than the alternative."

"That's great to hear," Max said, feeling relieved. He'd heard the clefairy was doing alright, but now he could see she actually was. "Is it okay to bring her here?"

The clefairy vanished from sight as the Professor returned her. "Sure is. Danny, do you want your whismur too?"

"Yeah." He placed two pokéballs in the digital transporter, preparing to send snorunt and skorupi to his uncle. Moments later, the new whismur and the clefairy arrived, and the latter immediately left her pokéball, only to jump on Max's lap and hug him. "You've got an admirer, Max."

"He did save her life," the Professor said drily. "And while I'm at it, Nurse Joy told me to compliment whoever made those poultices. Without them..." He shrugged, telling Max everything relevant in that gesture, even as the boy felt a blush creep into his face. "And stop blushing. Take some pride in what you did."

That only caused the blush to intensify. "Right. Thanks uncle, we'll talk to you later, when Max's face isn't burning up,," Danny said, leaning across the videophone to end the call. Then, he crouched, tapping the still-hugging Pokémon on her back. She turned around, eyes the same height as Danny's. "Clefairy? You remember we only caught you to get you healed?"

Danny had captured the clefairy in the morning, three poultices and a lot of interrupted sleep later. He'd done it, because Max's pokéballs wouldn't get sent to Littleroot, and putting her in stasis for three days was dangerous. "Fairy."

"Do you want us to bring you back to where we found you? We're south of there."

"Ry-Cle! Fai!" came the reply, and at the last syllable, she turned around, hugging Max.

Max gently lifted her, and she sat down on his right arm. "You want to stay?"

The clefairy nodded, as enthusiastically as she could while perched on Max's arm, and more enthusiastically after he used his other hand to support her. "Fairy," she said, pointing one of her short arms at Max.

"With me?"

"You did save her life," Danny said drily. "No wonder she wants you to be her trainer."

 _Promise me Max. Promise you'll come back and get me._

Max put several fingers of his left hand to his forehead as the memory, clear as if it had been just the day before, echoed in his head. "Max?"

"Sorry. Memories."

From the corner of his eye, Max saw Danny's expression change. He understood what Max had just heard. Clefairy, for her part, looked at Max with nothing but kindness in her eyes. "Ry?"

"I'll tell you tonight." He managed a smile. "Welcome to the team." As clefairy resumed her hugging, Max looked at Danny. "How do we transfer her?"

"I… I actually don't know," Danny admitted. "It's not a trade… Maybe Nurse Joy knows?"

She did, and a short time later, Max officially had his sixth Pokémon.

 **~~§~~§~~**

A grassy plain, about a short day's walk from Rustboro, was not a safe place to be. Attacks flew to and fro, hitting the ground, vanishing into the air, or hitting other Pokémon, to various effects. A green Pokémon was pelting a grey one with poisonous sludge, while an orange-hatted one threw Shadow Balls at a purple ghost. "Snorunt picked that up fast," Max remarked. The ice-type's were smaller, but more accurate, than the ones his ninjask used. "Wish baltoy was as fast."

"It's getting there. I think." Baltoy's attempts at Shadow Balls were inconsistent, either vanishing as the energy lost its shape, or putting enough force behind them that whismur shot an annoyed look across the field. The Normal-type was not affected by the Shadow Ball, but it did feel some of the kinetic energy behind it. "Still no luck with bagon?"

"No. It should work. Drake said that Dragon Rage was normal flame infused with Dragon-type energy, but he can't seem to produce them at the same time." Right after each other was where the bagon was at right now. It was still faster than most Pokémon could release attacks, and plenty powerful, but it wasn't dragon's fire.

"He is young. Give it time. Besides," Danny said, a smirk appearing on his face, "that Dragon Pulse of his is powerful."

"Don't remind me." Max had fought a double battle against another trainer, the day before. His bagon and ninjask against a houndour and a spoink. Somehow, bagon had managed to use a Dragon Pulse that knocked all three other Pokémon out, and ninjask was still not as fast as he could be. "At least clefairy is immune to that. She'll stop him if he flies into a rage."

"Which he hasn't yet," Danny pointed out. "And clefairy doesn't need that advantage. She'll just scold him, and send him to bed early."

Max had to grin at Danny's description. Clefairy was quickly becoming one of his favourite Pokémon, and her protective personality helped a lot with that. She also wasn't afraid to keep his other Pokémon in line, as the playfully snapping bagon had found out. "Without dessert, too."

"Definitely. And if she could get away with it, she'd do it to us too. After all," Max gleefully said, "she did send you to bed last night."

"I _chose_ to go to bed after she dragged my sleeping bag to me," Danny corrected, sounding slightly offended, and very, very fake. Max rolled his eyes at Danny. "Okay. She did."

"She totally did."

The two went their separate ways for a bit, Max setting bagon up with baltoy for an obstacle course, and Danny walked over to snorunt and duskull. Max didn't catch what he told them, but they went separate ways, snorunt resuming her practice for Ice Beam.

"Got your plan for Roxanne ready?"

Max turned towards Danny, who'd sat down, watching his Pokémon with a practised eye. "I have a plan," he admitted, "but no plan..."

"Survives enemy contact," Danny finished dutifully. "You said that for Flannery and Terry. You still got your badges. I think you're forgetting what Drake told you."

"Don't leave things to chance, but control them? That?" Max asked. He didn't wait for a verbal reply, though he saw an agreeing nod. "But how can I control Roxanne's strategy? That's her decision, not mine."

"You prepare, using your brain." Max rolled his eyes. "Stop that. You're smarter and more experienced than pretty much any kid our age. Most of them wouldn't have dared some of the things you pull. Case in point: Umbra."

"I told you, most gases don't mix with electricity." As Umbra's stunky had experienced at the hand of Max's Electric-type. "Thank Team Rocket for that."

"That's the point, Max," Danny said in response. "You've just seen so much. Nothing is new to you, and it is for others. Even for me." He crossed his arms, daring his friend to disagree.

Max wasn't sure if he agreed, but he gave the point to Danny, unwilling to argue. "Do you think we'll see someone from our class in Ever Grande?"

Their class had had 25 pupils at the start of the year, but only nine of the original group were left by the time Max had left, at the start of March. "Maybe like two? The average for getting eight badges is around a year, and not all of them are doing that anyway."

"Jane fought my Dad for her seventh badge," Max shared, remembering the last phone call he'd had with home, in the Pokémon Center, three days back. "She lost, but she'll be back. It was close, Dad said."

Danny nodded. "Jane always seemed good with Pokémon. Tristan's my second guess."

"No way. He's too stuck on type advantage." Tristan somehow could give you all weaknesses and strengths of any type combination within seconds. "It'll be Keith. He already had his starter Pokémon before leaving school." A staryu, which had been a gift from one of his uncles, Max thought. "You want to go to Petalburg after Rustboro?"

"Yeah," Danny said, sounding wistful. "Just to actually see Mum and Dad again. Travelling is fun..."

"But you still miss them." Max understood that, intimately. He and May both had had nights they barely slept at first, homesick. "It'll be good to see them again."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Crossing into Rustboro was a visible change. There were few houses outside Rustboro's city limits, and once they crossed that imaginary line, the suburbs took over, spacious homes and well-maintained gardens on both sides of the gently downward sloping road. In the distance, they could see the Devon Corporation building, and the lookout tower: the two tallest buildings in the city. The Pokémon Trainer's School and the Rustboro Gym were not far from those two landmarks.

It was fairly late in the afternoon, closing in on dinnertime, and a Sunday to boot, and the streets were appropriately filled with people walking around and playing children. The sun was playing hide and seek with light clouds, and a gentle western wind, straight from the sea, made temperatures perfect. "Hey, Danny? Let's go have dinner in the park."

Danny agreed, and they started following the directions to the park. It wasn't far, and before long, the trees had enveloped them whole, creating the impression that they were in a forest, not in the middle of town. A restaurant was quickly found, and after checking its policy towards Pokémon – generally okay if the Pokémon behaved and weren't too big – they sat down and ordered dinner.

In the distance, across the wooden patio, and across the grassy field that still had a lot of children playing, Max and Danny could see some commotion. There was some sound, but it was indistinct, and they understood only a bit. "What's that over there?" Max asked the teen who brought them their food.

"Dunno. Heard it was some _political_ protest. Not interested in that."

Max and Danny couldn't agree more with that sentiment, and by the time they left, well-fed, whatever had been there had vanished. They stopped by the Gym to register their challenges –Tuesday afternoon, as it turned out – before doing what they had done many, many times before: walk into a Pokémon Center, ask for a room, drop off wounded Pokémon, and then retire to their room, talking more strategies for Roxanne as they did so.

 **~~§~~§~~**

A mile away, in a tidy, yellow-walled, bedroom, a brown-haired young woman sat on her bed, combing her hair after a relaxing shower. Though she was getting ready for bed, her mind was still active. A small part of it expressed doubt, whether what she had planned was enough. However, she shoved this part aside with efficiency borne from experience: those thoughts were common, and it generally didn't matter how well she prepared, as long as a standard was met.

She was far more interested in reliving that late afternoon. Sure, it had been a small protest, but there was energy, and a sense that things had to change. It made her feel alive, and for the first time in a long time, she felt enthusiasm towards something that didn't have something to do with her work or a select few hobbies. She'd met like-minded people: smart people who agreed that the current situation, which caused a lot of casualties every year, most of them under the age of 14, was not safe enough.

Perhaps she should change her lessons for tomorrow. She thought about it, before discarding the idea. Professor Elm was calling in, and changing lesson plans the night before was one way to disaster, or at least discomfort as she tried to avoid showing the children that she was making everything up on the spot. Besides, she had an interview before school, cutting even more time from any rewriting.

She could make a lesson about this later. She added a note in her to-do notebook, and then turned off the lights. A day of teaching and fighting awaited, and Roxanne needed her sleep.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Where once the Pokémon League was the only recourse for those trainers seeking to test their skill, modern society allows for many ways to do just that, though the League is still the predominant favourite, followed at great distance by Pokémon Contests. In the Home Regions, roughly 80 % of all thirteen year olds say that they want to either battle, or participate in Pokémon Contests. Boys lean towards battling predominantly, while girls are more likely to do both, or to participate in Contests. On average, 28 % of all trainers aged thirteen describe themselves as a Pokémon Coordinator. This number is higher in Hoenn, where Coordinating originated, and it is lowest in Johto._

 _Of trainers seeking to enter a League, roughly 93 % manage to do so at least once during their free scholarship. A smaller group of 58 % enter at least two, while only 7 % enter three Leagues or more. […]_

 _Rare are the trainers who don't participate in either League or Contest. Most often, these trainers stop travelling around after less than two years._

From: Trainers in the Home Regions, Chapter 6: _Kinds of Trainers_

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Ash and company had, and have, a fairly lax attitude towards danger, but for the Hoenn/Battle Frontier era, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew probably takes the cake. Compared to that, running out in a thunderstorm is just another day on the job, as is saving Pokémon.


	11. Chapter 11: Offensive

******Disclaimer:**** ** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Offensive**

Flames obscured his vision, their heat palpable behind the powerful shields that Roxanne had called for at the start of their battle. Somewhere in the blaze, in the field of fire, was his grovyle, and somewhere beyond that was Roxanne's magcargo. His mind raced through the possibilities: burst through the flame and hope grovyle didn't pass out from the fire, hope Bullet Seed was able to knock the magcargo out, hope for anything.

Hope wasn't enough. Drake had said as much.

His heart sinking, he raised a pokéball, the first he ever obtained for himself, and pressed the return button. The red beam pierced the flame, and Max took the time to look to the side, to the audience. Most of it – the class Roxanne had taken along – was cheering.

He'd lost.

He had ideas where everything went off the rails. Baltoy hadn't been able to dent lairon too much, and Roxanne had simply traded blow for blow, Pokémon for Pokémon, after that. Max was the first to send out his last Pokémon, grovyle, to counter the boldore that had stopped electrike after her tremendous effort. That disadvantage cost him, as Roxanne was able to tailor her third Pokémon to his.

Good for her. Bad for him.

He listened to Roxanne's words. Learned she required at least five days between challenges. Lied about feeling fine. Left without saying much, walking faster than normal, Danny following behind him.

Danny, who was now a badge ahead for the coming few days. Danny, who was…

"Snap out of it, Max!" When did Danny get in front of him? Danny took his hand, pulling him along, pushing him down onto a bench. "You lost. Big deal. It happens. Get over it and beat her next time."

"She beat my three strongest Pokémon. How am I supposed to beat her?" Max spat back, a rising, almost floating, feeling in his chest. "I. Can't."

He made to get up, but Danny pushed him down again. "Yes. You. Can," Danny replied, locking eyes with Max. It made him want to look away, though he didn't. "Use that brain of yours. Figure something out."

"Easy for you to say."

Danny stepped back, face contorted. "Fine. If you wanna mope, mope." He started walking away, in the opposite direction of the Pokémon Center. "I'll see you tonight."

By the time Max had the idea to go after him, Danny had long vanished from sight.

 **~~§~~§~~**

It was well after dark when Max entered the Pokémon Center. He handed his Pokémon to Nurse Joy, ignoring her lecture on coming in so late, and, with a heavy heart, made his way to the room he'd stayed in the past two nights. The light was on, and he heard vague chatter from the television, even though the door was closed. He opened it. "Hey."

"Finally here?" Danny was watching the television, though he'd muted it the instant Max had come in. His back was to the door, and he'd made no motion to turn around. "Sit. On the bed."

Max obliged, trying to catch a glimpse of Danny's face, but Danny actively turned his back on Max as much as he could while still watching TV. Some game show was on, with questions on obscure Pokémon trivia. Max knew one or two of the answers, but he didn't share them as silence stretched in the room, turning almost oppressive. "I'm sorry."

"Of course you are." Danny's indifferent tone hurt. In the afternoon, it had caused anger. Now, it made Max feel shame. "Close your eyes."

Max didn't know what to make of that, but he did it anyway. He heard the other boy get up, and he felt Danny remove his glasses. After that, nothing happened for what felt like an age. Socks shuffled on tiles, but it was soft, and noises from outside, like something wheeled going down the hallway, or someone opening a door, were easier to hear.

Then, something whacked him over the head.

Max opened his eyes just in time for a green blur – a Pokémon Center pillow – to descend on his face. He couldn't dodge it, but he was able to grab his own pillow, and by the time Danny had landed two more hits, Max was ready to return fire.

The fight was fast, furious, and fun, though Max had a big disadvantage since he was still wearing a small backpack that flopped every time he wanted to turn quickly. Laughter echoed through the chamber with every hit, from both boys, no matter who was on the receiving end. Max got in a few hits, but Danny got in far more, eventually grabbing the pillow from Max's hands when he tried to land an overhead whack that missed, causing him to stumble forward. Danny threw it to the other end of the room, and held his pillow out like a floppy sword. "Yield?"

"Yield," Max confirmed, taking a seat on the bed as he tried to get his breathing to slow down. "You're a jerk." He drew his feet onto the bed, sitting where his pillow had been.

"Takes one to know one," Danny replied cheerily as he sat down at the other end of the bed, also placing his feet on the bed. He held out a pair of glasses, which Max accepted, and the entire room came into focus once again.

"I kinda was one, wasn't I." Max'd come to that conclusion earlier, after his anger had drained away.

"Yeah, you were. A big one." Max opened his mouth, but Danny was first. "It's all okay. Just don't do it again."

"I..." Max started, hesitantly. This conversation was weird, even for their standards, even after that pillow fight out of nowhere. "I don't know why I got so angry. I..." _Just was, suddenly._

"Don't sweat it."

The boys lapsed into a slightly weird silence, with Danny looking intently at Max, and Max averting his eyes just a bit every time he caught Danny's gaze. "Why the pillow fight?" Max wondered.

"Dad thought it'd be great. Help break the ice and all that. Said it's really hard to be angry when you're laughing."

"He got that right," Max muttered under his breath. Of course Danny's Dad had been the one behind this. He was a bit of a clown, and Max liked that, a lot. So did his own Dad.

"And Dad suggested the routine before it, too." Danny cracked a smile. "I practised for an hour to say that. Nearly burst out laughing anyway."

The door opened, revealing Nurse Joy with a tray. On it, Max saw two glasses, cookies, and several pokéballs. "Are you done?"

"Yes, Nurse Joy. He's all happy again." Danny suddenly scooted over, hands on Max's face. "See?" he said, as his fingers pulled Max's cheeks upward, making him sort of smile.

"I see. Here is some milk, and some cookies too." She placed the tray on the table next to the door. "Did you eat, Max? Danny said you might not have."

Max went slightly red. Forgetting to eat was something he could've done, but his stomach had been too loud. "I ate something."

"Good. Just bring the tray back in the morning, okay?" Both Max and Danny nodded. "Oh, and no more pillow fights, okay?"

"No, Nurse Joy," Danny replied while Max was thinking through what that sentence actually meant. "Thank you." Nurse Joy left the room, and Danny walked to the table, the smell of freshly-baked cookies wafting over. "Chocolate!"

The boys didn't say much as they ate their cookies. Max had to deny one to bagon, who had come out as he sometimes did at night, and the night just slowly passed. It was far past their usual bedtime, but the sugar in the cookies kept them up.

"Hey, that's Roxanne on TV." Danny's words made Max look at the screen, and the Rustboro Gym Leader was indeed on TV, a picture of her in a corner, above a 'Coming later' message. The programme looked like something Max's parents watched, late at night, about news and stuff. "Wonder what it's about."

Another item about the new Safari Zone followed, but the boys kept watching. Max thought the item was actually sort of interesting. A few minutes later, the presenter came back. "On Sunday, a group of concerned trainers gathered in Rustboro City's park. We sought out the Rustboro Gym Leader, Roxanne, to ask what it was about, and why she joined this protest."

Roxanne was sitting on a desk in a classroom, looking completely at ease. The interviewer was off-screen, but he still asked a question first. "Can you explain what your protest was about?"

"Of course. Every year, many children turn twelve and leave home on their Pokémon journey. It is a great moment for them, for their parents, and also for their teachers." Roxanne smiled at the camera as it zoomed out for a moment. "But every year, many new trainers are wounded, often severely, on their journey. All the Nurse Joys that end up treating those injuries keep a record of which Pokémon wounded the trainers, and we found some things in those records.

"Firstly, most injuries are from wild Pokémon, but it's only a narrow majority. The types are about what you expect: a lot of dragon-type Pokémon compared to their rarity, and fire-types are also high up. The interesting part is when you look at the injuries from trained Pokémon."

"What did your group find?"

"We found that Ghost, Dark, and Psychic-type Pokémon are responsible for a far greater number of injuries than their rarity should suggest. They are responsible for nearly 40 % of all injuries, and those are just the ones severe enough to require Nurse Joy's help. Who knows how many children are wounded on the road, but don't say anything?"

"That's a large number. It's been a while since I checked, but didn't those types only make up about 25 % of all Pokémon?"

Roxanne nodded. "Exactly. That's what we found, and after the events in Petal Grove recently, where many Ghost-type Pokémon, trained or wild, did strange things, outside of their trainers' control, we decided it was enough. It was time to protest."

"But what do you want from this? We can't stop children from catching those Pokémon."

"No. We can't. And we shouldn't. Every trainer is free to catch whichever Pokémon she or he wants. But we could start by teaching children in school about the dangers of these types. Maybe do some research towards why this is the case. Is it because children have no idea how to treat these types? Or is it perhaps the type that makes the Pokémon more dangerous, just like we know dragon-types are more volatile?" Roxanne hopped from the desk, shrugging. "I don't know the answers. Nobody does. We should go look for them."

The image returned to the female presenter in the studio. "Thank you Roxanne of Rustboro City Gym. With me, I have Joshua Bonsai, assistant to Professor Birch in Littleroot Town. Mr. Bonsai, what can you tell us about these claims by Roxanne about the injur—"

With a popping sound, the TV went black, as did the rest of the building for a moment. Then, the lights came back on, at half strength. "Power went out?" Danny guessed when Max looked at him quizzically. He opened the curtains, revealing utter darkness, except for the light coming from the Center itself. "Looks like it. What did you think of Roxanne's interview?"

"Learning more is always good." Max shrugged. "But it's for kids, not us. Besides, we know how to work with baltoy and duskull." He yawned. "And I'm going to brush my teeth."

"Sure." Danny waved him off, and when Max returned, he found Danny looking outside into the darkness, elbow on the sill, hand under his chin. "Do you think Roxanne went harder on you because you picked baltoy first?"

"No." Max was absolutely certain of that. "She wouldn't. Gym Leaders don't do that. They have their own organisation dealing with stuff like this, Dad told me once. They make sure that challenges are fair."

"Ah, okay."

 **~~§~~§~~**

The stands were empty when Max and Danny walked in to the Gym on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The arena itself held a handful of people: Roxanne, someone wearing referee's clothing, someone wearing the Trainers School uniform operating a camera, and a man with spiked blue hair, wearing casual clothes and sandals. He was the first to notice the trainers walking up. "Well, if it isn't Max Maple. Long time no see, little dude." Then, to Roxanne. "You taking on trainers on Sundays now? Take some time to relax, Rox."

"Hi Brawly," Max greeted back. "Trust me, Dad hates it when there's a trainer on Sunday."

"Max lost on Tuesday," Roxanne interjected, soft-spoken, her voice somehow still making Max pay attention. "It was a close contest, and we agreed today was best. That way, he can continue, win or lose."

"I see. Well, I got some bad news for ya. If you're planning on Dewford, no can do for a bit. I'm off to the airport tomorrow. Be up in Sinnoh for two weeks."

"Oh."

"Sorry dude," Brawly said, and he did look sorry. "My parents are married 25 years next week, and my grandparents are married 50 years in December. We're taking the family to a week and a half in Sinnoh's Resort Area."

Danny whistled appreciatively. "Sounds great. Guess we'll have to make new plans."

"You could just wait two weeks, dudes. Dewford's great this time of year. Beaches, sun, sea. Even some girls." Brawly took a look at Roxanne. "Oops. Sorry Rox."

"I am well aware of how boys work," Roxanne said, haughtily looking at Brawly. "I did think you were twenty-four, not fourteen. Guess there's always time to learn something new."

"Ouch," Brawly said, without heat. "I'll just go lick my wounds." He held out a hand to Max, who took it. Brawly had a firm grasp, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "Good luck, little dude. You'll need it." With that, he walked off to the bench on Roxanne's side of the field.

"As this is a last chance rematch," the referee stated once everyone was in position, "the challenger has to win. The same rules as in the normal match apply: three Pokémon aside, with the challenger allowed to switch out." Both of his flags went up. "Trainers, select your Pokémon."

"Good luck, Max! Show me you can do it!" Roxanne called from across the arena. "Let's begin! Lairon, I choose you!"

Just as Danny and Max had expected. A titter of nerves shot through Max, but he squashed it. They'd made his plans, and it was too late to back out. "Bagon, come on out!"

As the bipedal young dragon entered the field, stomping aggressively, Max's mind flashed back to Wednesday night, in the park. _"I have an idea,"_ Danny had said. _"Your normal strategy didn't work against that lairon, right?"_ Max had concurred with that: lairon being too heavy to lift and too strong to box in with baltoy's Rock Tomb. _"Go all out offensive."_

" _Say what?"_

Shields sprung up around the arena, and the flags went down. Max barely heard the call to begin, but he was ready. "Dragon Pulse."

" _Lairon was slow, but fast enough to catch baltoy because you couldn't do much. I bet it can't dodge attacks all that well."_

" _It doesn't need to. You know they're tanks."_

Bagon jumped on one of the many, many rocks that littered the arena, and after locating lairon, it fired a ball of green energy, larger than Max's head, straight at Roxanne's Pokémon.

The ball dissipated on lairon's Protect, but the ground around it suffered for that. The Steel-type then ran at bagon, uncaring about any rocks in its way, smashing them with Iron Head.

" _We know it has Protect, and lots of contact moves. It has nothing at range."_

" _Most of my other Pokémon work better up close, and clefairy's weak to Steel."_

"Left, pepper it with Embers," Max ordered, and bagon obeyed by jumping off the rock, quickly circling around the sluggish, heavy-set lairon. Embers impacted on the Iron Armour Pokémon, mostly on its flank as it turned while it ran. "Towards me. Keep at it!"

" _You're missing one."_

" _You can't mean..."_

" _He's a month old, Max."_ Max had glared at Danny at that point. _"Nearly, anyway. He's hardly a baby."_

" _Still… We don't even have Dragon Rage down."_

Bagon was, with careful coaching on Max's side for which way he should move, keeping the lairon at bay. Right now, there was a pretty large gap between the two Pokémon, and lairon was turning again. That was a good opportunity. "Dragon Pulse!" Bagon fired another sphere at lairon, who didn't stop, or even slow down, even after getting hit right in the face with the attack. "Jump!"

The jump wasn't in time to dodge lairon fully, but it couldn't take bagon on the head and fling him away, like it had done to baltoy previous. A quick tumble later, bagon was up again, and crucially, behind lairon, who was slowing down for the edges of the arena. "Dragon Rage!"

" _So? As long as it doesn't blow up in his face, all's fine. Maybe the lairon even gets complacent after using Protect. Drop the shield a split second before the fire hits."_

Max had grinned. _"If it works..."_

As Danny had predicted, the dragon-typed glob of energy impacted on the Protect shield, which fell immediately afterwards. The glob of fire hit lairon in the rear, hard enough to leave smoke trailing from the point of impact. "Dragon Pulse again, go!" Max yelled.

" _It's dangerous, I know. No endurance. It's all or nothing. Just like the match."_

Another green sphere, another hit, on the lairon's flank this time. "One more!"

Lairon's eyes glowed, and rocks flew up around it. Several blocked most of the Dragon Pulse. The rest was sent at bagon. Two missed, one he dodged, and the last hit his helmet, though bagon shrugged it off, thanks to his hard head. It did, however, break his momentum, and lairon took that moment to charge again, faster this time.

Then, it jumped, going In with claws glowing.

Bad idea. _Very_ bad idea.

Bagon was nimble enough to roll out of the way as lairon crashed with an almighty thud, and the steel type wasn't quick enough in getting up. "One last Dragon Pulse!" Max screamed, his throat feeling raw as the sound ripped through it.

The attack hit lairon on the side of its face, spinning it around slightly from sheer kinetic energy. Bagon prepared a second attack, but let it fizzle out once lairon turned red. Instead, he sent out a set of embers at the ceiling in celebration, adding a roar to it. It echoed around the room, and resonated within Max.

On the bench, Danny was grinning like mad, and the boys exchanged double thumbs up while waiting for Roxanne's second Pokémon.

The shielding vanished. "Well fought! Let's see how you handle this!"

Max didn't recognise the grey-brown Pokémon that came out. That was a first in a very long time. He actually had to take his Pokédex from his backpack, because he hadn't expected to need it.

 _Tyrunt, the Royal Heir Pokémon. This Pokémon was restored from a fossil. If something happens that it doesn't like, it throws a tantrum and runs wild. Its fossils are mainly found in the Kalos region._

Rock/Dragon. Now that was a unique typing. Lots of weaknesses, from the top of his head, and one he was sure about was Dragon itself. "Dragon Pulse!"

It was pretty fast, faster than lairon, and it could jump better. The first Dragon Pulse went underneath it, but the second one hit it on its belly as it jumped in on bagon, screeching as it did.

"Get it, bagon!"

The mêlée was vicious, with both dragons not giving an inch, not even using actual attacks. Bagon was limited to ramming its head into the taller tyrunt, while the tyrunt had clawed feet and a jaw to use.

Max's Pokémon put up a good struggle, dishing out several whacks while using its smaller size to dodge under a lot of the bites tyrunt tried to do, but an attack – a set of glowing claws in bright green – raked the bagon just long enough to make him falter. Clawed feet stepped on him moments later, and bagon couldn't take any more, falling.

Max quickly returned him as the tyrunt started biting down on the prone Pokémon.

Like bagon before, the tyrunt let out a roar for the heavens to hear, asserting its superiority. "We'll see about that," Max muttered. It sounded weird, even to himself, and when he tried to swallow, the back of his mouth felt like he'd been eating Route 111 sand. He gestured for a short time-out, heading into his backpack for the second time this match, this time to grab some water.

The full bottle was half-empty ten seconds later. Max also took a separate moment's pause, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself some more, and sent out his second Pokémon.

If Max was hoping for a reaction when he sent out clefairy, Roxanne didn't give him one. As far as he could see. He hadn't planned on using her, but tyrunt's Dragon-typing just asked for it.

Tyrunt moved first, breaking into a loping run across the rubble-strewn centre of the battlefield. Max and clefairy watched it bear down on her, jaws open, ready to bite.

It cleared the last few feet faster than expected, causing clefairy to be hit by the moving tail as she dodged right. She ignored it as Max called out an Encore move, which hit, white light enveloping the Dragon-type. Clefairy then bounded away, crossing the field to Roxanne's side in mere seconds, and started a Metronome.

Tyrunt closed in, but the Metronome finished, and clefairy started spinning rapidly, a blue ring of light forming around her. Tyrunt tried to evade the attack by heading into the rocky side of the arena, but clefairy caught its right leg. The sudden jarring impact forced clefairy back a bit, and tyrunt a lot more, though it did land on its feet.

Rocks flew at clefairy, not because tyrunt used an attack, but because its tail smashed a rock with enough force to send the debris at the fairy type. "Dodge them and Disarming Voice."

Clefairy did just that, jumping up, soaring over the incoming rocks, and released a short burst of pink. It missed tyrunt, which evaded it by going left, but it destroyed another rock. A second Disarming Voice clipped her enemy, but it wasn't enough to stop the dragon from running in, and clefairy abandoned her position, bounding away again, faster than tyrunt could follow.

"Encore must be running out soon," Max said to himself. It wasn't unlikely that it knew something at range, though thankfully, Dragon Pulse wasn't a good option. "Metronome again!"

Fingers waggled, and clefairy started glowing with a brown aura. Max perked up, recognising the Magnitude attack. He also braced himself, just in case it was a powerful version. The waggling stopped, and clefairy raised her foot for a moment. Then, it came down, resulting in… a small tremor that barely slowed the tyrunt down, though it did wobble a bit.

Tyrunt roared, and as it ran, rocks lifted up from the ground, creating small craters. It held them for a moment, but once clefairy bounded away, all four rocks flew after her while tyrunt turned on its paw, following the rocks.

Clefairy's eyes glowed an ominous black for a second, and the rocks, which had been en route to hitting her, took a downward angle, one of them skidding and rolling into her feet, unbalancing the small Pokémon for a moment. Tyrunt, too, was affected once it reached the Gravity field. Clefairy held the increased gravity until tyrunt was on the ground fully, and then released it, bounding away once again in her keep-away.

The tyrunt was slower in getting up than Max expected. "Disarming Voice, finish it!" he called across the field.

A continuous stream of spiralling pink energy spewed forth from clefairy, splashing on the shields before clefairy adjusted her aim to the dodging tyrunt. The ancient Pokémon did its best, but the energy clipped one of its legs at a bad angle, causing it to trip, and crash head first into one of the rocks still standing. The rock perished in the process, but tyrunt was also out for the count.

Tyrunt was returned, and again, Roxanne dropped the shields with a gesture. "Excellent, Max. Top marks! You know this last one. I choose magcargo!"

" _What about the magcargo? It's better at range than any of my Pokémon, with good defences too."_

" _Sorry Max. I'm out of ideas for that one. Catch a Water-type tomorrow?"_

Unfortunately, they hadn't found a Water-type that could work on land. Plan B it was. "Clefairy, take a break. Electrike, come on out!"

Magcargo was a Fire-type with limited mobility. He'd fought this one before, and he knew nearly all of its tricks. Meanwhile, electrike had learnt a new trick in the past few days.

It would have to be enough.

The Pokémon opened fire simultaneously: a hailstorm of Embers meeting a crackling Thunder Wave. The attacks cancelled each other out, and electrike moved closer, trying to find a good angle to run in.

Magcargo started firing globes of fire at electrike, Flame Bursts that fell apart on impact. Luckily, electrike was smaller than grovyle, and faster at changing direction on a whim. Slowly but surely, she managed to move in ever closer, until… "Spark," Max barked.

Electricity flared around the small Pokémon as it rammed itself into the shell. It didn't topple the Lava Pokémon, but electrike was able to use the shell as a springboard for jumping away, and she was long gone when the close range Lava Plume fired. The few rocks that made it to electrike's general position weren't a threat.

The match continued much like it had at first. Magcargo, now more wary, sought to keep electrike at bay with Embers and Flame Bursts, while Max's Electric-type sought to push current into the Fire-type's body, with only limited success. Soon, Max saw her strength beginning to wane, though it was only a little. "Get in closer and Thunder Fang," he spoke in as loud a whisper as he dared make, hoping to keep Roxanne in the dark.

Electrike had good hearing, and she changed her running pattern immediately to a more aggressive one. It forced magcargo to stop the Embers and start using Rock Throw as it tried to keep itself safe.

It was nearly enough. One rock hit electrike in the side as she jumped for magcargo's face, but the quadruped snagged the side of its nose, unleashing a ferocious current as she used nearly all she had left.

Max returned her the moment she let go.

He judged his opponent as he sent clefairy out again, making her appear on the halfway line. Going for the face had been crucial, as the pain, and hopefully paralysis, would stop it from using its mouth for a bit. "Metronome!"

A torrent of bubbles flew at magcargo, who threw the rocks it had just grabbed at the Bubblebeam. It was an effective defence, though part of the attack made it through, causing some smoke to rise up, visible even from where Max was.

Another Metronome, another random attack. This one, unfortunately, was useless, as clefairy spat threads of sticky string at the magcargo. Not only did String Shot not actually help, they also just melted off immediately. Worse, the magcargo managed to open its mouth, releasing a clear white smog.

Clear Smog and Flamethrower had been grovyle's bane, magcargo using those attacks to create a curtain of fire.

"Metronome, one more," Max ordered. Clefairy obeyed, even as she breathed in the poisonous smog, and Max saw her bend over, coughing as her fingers waggled.

Then, clefairy vanished, reappearing as she rammed a tiny first into magcargo's shell, unbalancing it for long enough to allow her to make a getaway to Max's side of the field. Max grabbed two pokéballs. "Healing Wish!"

Clefairy started floating, creating a burst of blue light that hovered over the arena close to Max. With his left hand, Max returned clefairy, while his right immediately sent out electrike, just in time to catch the now-falling motes of light. The small Pokémon yipped happily with every mote that hit her, and Max saw burns on her snout vanish right in front of his eyes.

It was time for round two.

With strength anew, electrike accelerated towards magcargo, slipping past a barrage of Flame Burst and rocks as she went into a Quick Attack, running circles around magcargo before striking, backing off, and resuming her broad circling manoeuvre. She did so twice more before Roxanne ordered something with a sharp hand gesture.

The something turned out to be a gold glow around magcargo, and Max saw cracks appear around it, slowly spreading outward in a semicircle, though accelerating. "Out!"

There was one moment the Earth Power nearly connected on electrike: a segment of the floor collapsing the culprit, but soon, the Lightning Pokémon was on safe ground.

As was magcargo. A straight path was no longer possible, as most of the arena on its end had collapsed, and the bits that hadn't looked mighty unstable. The only safe area was just around and behind magcargo, but there was at least a thirty foot area of unstable ground to pass first.

Actually...

Max ordered electrike to dodge the Flame Bursts that magcargo was firing from long range, his mind working in overdrive. Magcargo was in bad shape, its Flame Bursts weaker than before, and Max doubted it could send rocks over with any more accuracy or power. Roxanne was trying to win through attrition, and Max couldn't let that happen.

Time to improvise.

Max explained his plan to his Pokémon, hoping that she could do what he asked for. Her reply seemed enthusiastic enough, but it wasn't something they'd tried. Both of them waited for magcargo to stop firing Flame Bursts, and when it did, electrike was already running towards the right side of the arena before Max could give the signal, slipping into another Quick Attack.

The Earth Power had spread unevenly, because magcargo had been slightly more to the left of the arena. There was a strip on the right of the arena that looked as stable as anything. If electrike could jump from there to the stable portion near Roxanne, Max reasoned, she could finish the tired Pokémon off. It'd have to be in one blow, though, and quick, else a Lava Plume or Earth Power would make him lose.

So he asked if electrike could use Spark while using Quick Attack.

From afar, Max saw electricity beginning to arc over electrike's body, yellow energy contrasting with the white of Quick Attack. She jumped, crossing the gap, executing a perfect landing that allowed her to spin on a dime, and sped to cross the last gap of twenty-or-so feet.

She slowed down a little, but the electricity sparked into life, nearly hiding the similarly-coloured Pokémon in the attack. Max saw, for a brief instant, a gold glow beginning to envelop magcargo.

Then a yellow-and-white ball hurled herself into magcargo, and the cry of pain that came from that end of the arena wasn't electrike's. There was a blinding flash of light, and a small explosion that caused magcargo to skid out of the ball on its side.

It wasn't getting up, but that wasn't what Max's attention was focused on.

The ball grew, and grew, electrike completely invisible within it. It was shapeless, and a wind whipped up around it, sending small pebbles, of which there were many, flying in all directions. And then it was not shapeless, settling in spikes. _Far_ more spikes than electrike had. _Wider_ than electrike was. _Taller_ than electrike was.

Manectric let out a deep, echoing, victorious howl before running to Max. She easily cleared the gap, and Max barely had enough time to crouch, arms open.

Then, he fell backwards, as a far-heavier Pokémon bowled him over, happily licking him on his face. After a moment, Max began to run his hands through her fur, which felt even more statically charged, but otherwise the same, as before.

A shrill whistle from nearby caused manectric to stop her licking, and Max felt Danny's hand on his arm, helping him up as the taller – she was nearly as tall as he was! - Pokémon walked around them, barking happily. Max settled a hand in her fur, behind her ears, as Roxanne and Brawly walked up.

"Strength, speed, and creativity. You dealt with my defences excellently, using a team of Pokémon. You earned this Stone Badge fair and square." Max accepted the badge with his empty hand. "Incidentally, can I use this battle for class purposes?"

"Huh?" There'd been a camera, though it, and the teenager operating it, had vanished. "Wasn't there someone recording?"

Roxanne smiled. "He just wanted some practice editing battles. He plans on going into the film industry."

That made sense. "Oh."

"What about it? It'd be a really big help for me and my lessons."

"Sure. Go ahead."

Roxanne hugged him, briefly, but firmly. "Thank you! Oh, this'll be great. Brawly, can you see these two out? I'm going to find Seymour." Without waiting for a reply, she ran off to the door that led to the School proper.

"You made her day, little dude. Been a while since I saw her so psyched." Brawly had a big grin on his face as he sat down to rub the manectric's fur. "Mind, that battle was amazing as well. The hype is real."

"Hype?" That was Danny, who'd also sat down. Max, feeling no need to stay standing, did the same. "What?"

"It's that people think we should be good," Max said, a bit peeved with Brawly for bringing it up, though his general happiness crowded it out. "Because of our family."

Brawly grinned, ignorant of Max's annoyance. "Right in one. And your first journey, too," he added, pointing at Max. "And I saw some of Ash's stuff today, but, y'know… It wasn't him I was reminded of." He fell silent, smiling secretively.

"Who?" Danny asked when it became clear that Brawly wasn't going to say anything without being asked for it. "If not Ash..."

"His father. Norman – Max's Dad, sir, whatever you call him – loves to set the pace in battles," Brawly started explaining. "That bagon offensive, and then the clefairy keep-away with Encore? You forced Rox to react to you. She couldn't _act_ until she sent out her ace." He leant in, motioning for the boys to join him, and they did. "Bagon even forced the tyrunt. Most of her other Pokémon at this level can't deal with that kind of assault. Too slow, y'know. They'd get hit too much before taking it out." He sat up straight. "And then you send out the clefairy. Counter."

Max laughed at Brawly's delivery. "That was the idea, yeah."

"Anyway, one more thing. The bagon. You were really into it, weren't ya?" Brawly asked, though he looked like he already knew the answer. Max confirmed it with a nod. "Don't get cocky. I know it's easy, but that's what makes dragons so dangerous, and powerful."

" _Filling you with confidence and daring. Sometimes, overconfidence."_

Max nodded vigorously. "Will do. Or won't do. Whatever." Brawly and Max shared a laugh. "Thanks Brawly."

All of them got up, and when Max made to return manectric, she nudged him, as if to say no, so he didn't. "No problemo dude. You sure I can't convince you to spend two weeks in Dewford?"

"We'll see," Danny said, but Max knew Danny. He'd want to keep going, as Max did himself.

Brawly recognised it, Max thought. "Well, call me up after your last badge, maybe. Have a training battle for the League. Whatever." They reached the door. "Later dudes!"

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Every Gym_ must _have Pokémon capable of shielding the arena of choice. If these Pokémon are not in your possession, the League will provide you with them on a permanent loan. If they are injured, ill, or indisposed, battling is discouraged, though it is up to the Gym Leader to elect whether or not to use them. Any injury sustained by a trainer in a Gym Battle is your responsibility. Err on the side of caution._

From: Home Regions Gym Leader Handbook.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Clefairy's Metronome moves, in order: Gyro Ball and Magnitude 4 for tyrunt, Bubblebeam, String Shot, and Mach Punch for magcargo. All randomly generated, except Magnitude was the second attack rolled. The first one, being Roar of Time, was a bit overkill.

You can imagine my amusement and dismay at rolling Magnitude, and then rolling a natural 1 on the d20.


	12. Chapter 12: Home

******Disclaimer:**** ** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Home**

"You went too far, Roxanne!" the youngest person in the room exclaimed the moment Juan had formally called for the extraordinary Gym Leader meeting to start. Seventeen people sat in a comfortable hotel room, just outside Mauville – a friend of Wattson's owned it, and was always happy to host the Gym Leaders on their occasional meet ups. "Apologise!"

Reginald, Dragon-type Gym Leader and member of the Hoenn Gym Leader council, eyed Tate. Though Tate was filled with the impetuousness of youth, Reginald couldn't help but think that this was slightly out of character. It'd been a week to the day since Roxanne's interview first aired, and Tate'd sounded civil enough in email communications even the day before.

Ah. Liza. A double act, then. "Forgive my brother's tone, Roxanne. He's rather easily angered, as you well know." A smirk was visible on her face. "However, he's got a point. We're Gym Leaders. The guidelines say we're supposed to be neutral regarding other types than our own."

"Tate, Liza, I've mentioned before that this is simply data. I did not disparage Pokémon. I merely called for research." Roxanne, as ever, was polite in tone, but Reginald had the feeling she didn't particularly like being singled out. Then again, nobody ever did.

"Aye, that much is true," spoke Casper, the Ghost-type Gym Leader, a man close to Wattson in age, though rather thinner and frail-looking. "Ye called for research, but ye had a leading question to begin with."

"I was asked my opinion. Someone with the proper scientific background will apply proper rigour to it, I am certain."

"And in giving yer opinion, ye poisoned the well." Casper shook his head, scoffing. "Bad practice, lass. Leave science to scientists and teach yer children that too."

"Perhaps," Juan interjected smoothly from Reginald's left, "we should seek opinions of those not involved directly." The Senior Gym Leader – though actually only second in actual seniority due to a brief hiatus in his mid-40s, which had allowed Wattson to grab that title – looked around the room. "Norman?"

Ah, Norman. He usually spoke sense. "Well, I don't think Roxanne actually _meant_ to disparage any Ghost, Dark, or Psychic-types. But," he said, holding up a hand to forestall interruptions, not that it was needed, "that doesn't mean that no disparaging happened."

An argument Reginald could find himself agreeing with, though he wasn't so sure about Roxanne's disparaging being unintentional. He'd heard from someone at the original protest – a cousin's best friend working at Rustboro Park security – that Roxanne had been one of the more vocal members there.

The arguments raged for a while, and Reginald kept quiet. He'd like to join in the debate, but he knew that, as a member of the council, he would add undue weight to either side he joined in on. Instead, he quietly kept tabs on the debate.

A reprimand was a given. Roxanne had overstepped her boundaries as a Gym Leader in the interview by speaking negatively. Juan shared this view as well, as far as Reginald knew, and even though none of the Gym Leaders involved – Roxanne, Tate & Liza, Casper, and Umbra – would vote, he couldn't see enough opposition to the reprimand.

The real question was whether or not censure would follow. An alliance of Flannery, Winona, and LeeAnn was arguing in favour of it – a strange alliance if ever Reginald had seen one. The three women were disparate In age: Flannery in her early twenties; LeeAnn close to his own forty-six; and Winona just past thirty, and Flannery traditionally sided with Roxanne.

Then again, she knew a tiny bit more than others.

Cap and Cory were leading the defence. Mostly Cory. Despite opposite types – Poison and Steel – the two had gone through their qualification process together, and had been good friends since. Their argument seemed to revolve around freedom of speech, and if there was going to be someone voting against the reprimand, it'd be them. Cory also held Brawly's vote for this session, though Reginald was unsure the surfer would agree with the exact argument. Laid back he may be, the Dewford Leader had boundaries that Roxanne came close to crossing.

Ten to three for the reprimand then, including the council votes, and _probably_ an undecided outcome for the censure, excluding council votes. Reginald thought it over. Juan was impassive, but irked with Roxanne's overstepping of the boundaries. The third member of the council, David, the Bug-type Gym Leader, appeared swayed by Cory's oration. Reginald had to hand it to him: it was a good delivery.

He'd vote against it, he decided. Better the devil he knew, and this allowed for easier tracking.

As expected, the reprimand passed, and the censure did not, though with a mere one vote difference. The margin wouldn't be a factor for Roxanne. A victory was a victory, especially for the impassioned; the fervent.

The rest of the meeting – they were there anyway – was standard, though much welcome, as there were several minor issues with the budget that could now be cleared up. The gossip afterwards was, as always, both unimportant and intriguing. Notes on interesting trainers were swapped, as were rumours about who'd be replacing Drake after the League, and many a glance was sent around the room, until everyone realised that the ones they were looking for had left already.

Perhaps, Reginald reflected as he climbed on his dragonite, off to fly to the south, where his Gym was, he ought to contact his old mentor for something.

 **~~§~~§~~**

"Echoed Voice!" Danny called, for the third time that fight, and the wave of energy that rippled forth was slow, but absolutely massive. Both boys took a step back, even though the patch of grass whismur and grovyle were fighting on was already nearly thirty feet in front of them.

"Jump over it!" Max countered, using the same method that grovyle had used to dodge the first two Echoed Voices. The Grass-type mistimed the jump, however, and his leg was struck by the energy, which promptly caused him to tumble in mid-air. He tried to stick the landing, but that ended up as a belly flop, and whismur jumped on grovyle's back a moment later. "Well, that's a match. Guess you can't dodge over it easily."

Whismur jumped off grovyle's back, and both Pokémon ambled back to their trainers. "The side can work. Wonder if she can make it wider, not taller." Whismur tittered something affirmative. "You think you can?"

"Not now," Max said, putting a stop to any experimenting. "Dinner first, and it's your turn to cook. I'll go get some firewood."

They were camping in the hills north of Petalburg, skipping the normal routes and Petalburg Forest. This location was one Max knew: it was one of his mother's favourite places to have a picnic. It still looked the same as it did last September, just after Max had returned home from Kanto: a small lake, a grassy field, and a tiny stream nearby, about five miles out from Petalburg.

They could have made it to Petalburg that day. Easily. But Danny's parents only expected them tomorrow, and it wasn't like camping here was a chore or anything.

When Max returned with his arms full of firewood, he saw Danny looking at their map of Hoenn. Again. Danny wasn't sure where to go for the eighth badge. Max wasn't either, but it was going to be nearly two weeks until they reached Mauville, even if they left today without going to Petalburg. They had time.

Wait. Why was his pack open? He swore he closed it. "Danny? Did you take something from my pack?"

Danny looked up. "No?" He took a look at Max's obviously open pack. "What?"

Max dropped the branches he'd been carrying, and his hand went to his belt, fingering manectric's pokéball. Danny's hand also went to his belt, and the two boys approached the open pack with care. A Pokémon had probably managed to open it.

Just as Max was about to poke his pack with a large branch, a Pokémon emerged from it. Blue and white, with innocent-looking eyes that looked like they had no care at all, the poliwag took a look at the boys before jumping out of the pack and running towards them.

Or, well, that was its plan. It fell over halfway through, though it got up immediately,. Once it reached Max, who was closer, it started running circles around him.

Max relaxed as he saw the poliwag's expression up close: it just wanted to play. "Hey, Danny, toss me those small balls you use for marshtomp." It took a minute, but he got them. "Hey, poliwag? Want to juggle these?" he said, holding one of the small blue balls where the wide-eyed Water-type could see it.

"Poli!"

One, then two, then three balls made it into the air without too much issue as the poliwag alternated bursts of water to keep them up. When Max tried to add a fourth, however, it couldn't keep up, and one ball fell on its head, followed by the other three in rapid succession. That only got more laughter, though.

"Someone's having fun," Danny said, about ten minutes later, while poliwag was still trying to keep four balls up in the air, and failing, though it hadn't been hit in the head after that first time. Max was sitting next to it, adding balls when he felt like it. "Energetic little guy. Seems to like you too." He gave Max a significant look.

Oh, why not. Max snatched the two balls currently in the air, getting a gentle jet of water on his hand for his trouble every time. "Hey, poliwag? We're trainers. You know what those are, right?" That got him more happy chirping. "Want to come with us?"

The reply was a slippery Pokémon jumping into Max's chest. He didn't fall over, thanks to recent practice at being tackled by heavier Pokémon, but he did have to put one hand to the ground to stay sitting. "I guess that's a yes," Danny said, and Max could hear the smirk. "Guess you got your Water-type."

"Yeah."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Danny laid motionless on his mattress, listening as his father, who'd just woken the two boys up, went down the stairs, in the same loud manner as always. He heard a creak, meaning that his father was a landing below them, and turned towards his right, where Max was trying to wake up properly. "Morning."

"Mo-ooo-rning," Max replied. "So comfy."

Danny smirked as his foot lashed out, jostling Max. "Grab a shower and wake up. Stuff to do."

"Fine." Max got up, grabbed a towel, and made to walk downstairs. He paused to shoot Danny a glare when he was at the door, but a yawn ruined that effect, and Max hastily padded down the stairs, leaving Danny in his room.

Around him, nothing had changed. His room was still the same as it had been seven months ago. Posters advertising the Hoenn League, or a tournament, still adorned the walls. His CDs were still lined up above his desk. From the half-open window, he could hear taillow tittering, their growlithe barking at something, cajoling and talking as children walked to school; all the sounds that made home… _home._

It was familiar and weird at the same time: to come back and find that nothing, yet everything, had changed.

Different kids now sat in their classroom, in their last months at school. His music wasn't the best new music he liked any more. The taillow probably were different. The posters were out of date. Everything here was just… old.

Not bad old, though. He'd missed listening to his favourite albums, and his own mattress was still the best.

It was nearly nine by the time the two boys sat at the breakfast table, with Danny's Dad providing all their favourite foods, including pancakes. He did stop Danny from taking two at once, which was unfair.. "Any plans today?"

"Train," Max replied. "Going to use some of Dad's Pokémon."

"A wise decision," Danny's father said, nodding with a grave look on his face. It was almost enough to make Danny roll his eyes. "Different Pokémon lead to different training regimes. Versatility is important as a trainer." The adult in the room took the last pancake from the plate, layering it with more whipped cream than even Danny did. "Any other plans?"

"We thought we'd drop by school." They'd seen older kids do that in the past. "Sometime in the afternoon."

His father nodded. "Just call ahead first. Maybe they don't want you, because they're doing something."

"Oh." Danny hadn't even thought of that. "Thanks Dad."

"Glad I'm of use for something still. Along with my breakfast, apparently." He eyed the empty plates, and the boys. "Will this tide you until lunch, my lords?"

"It'll do," Danny replied as haughtily as he could. He could only hold the expression for about five seconds, bursting into sniggers after. "Thanks Dad. It was great." Beside him, Max voiced agreement. "Does growlithe need a walk?"

"Do ursaring go potty in the woods?" That was Dad-speak for 'Yes'. "Just take him with you to the Gym. He's not going to say no to that."

Growlithe was happy to go with Danny and Max, jumping around the boys until Danny half-threatened to put the leash on. Max made a quick call, found that they could swing by after 2pm, and after giving some of their Pokémon breakfast, the boys left for the Petalburg City Gym.

Once in the Gym, Max gave Danny one of his father's slakoth to work with snorunt on Blizzard, and Max went to the other side of the Gym arena to work with a girafarig. Danny saw both manectric and baltoy out. On a whim, Danny sent his marshtomp out, remembering that they could learn Ice-type moves, and told him to watch and listen.

They rotated Pokémon around after half an hour or so, Danny's whismur starting some work with a loudred, and Max's poliwag working with a bibarel. Danny was happy he'd picked up some earplugs, even with the girafarig now throwing up Light Screens around the whismur and loudred. It was still loud up close.

A ring filtered through the earplugs, sounding very far away, and when Danny looked over, he saw Max walking to the Gym Entrance. "Take a break," he instructed his Pokémon, and after calming down the barking growlithe, he followed his best friend, who was already unlocking the door.

"Hey, I know the Gym is closed, but then I saw you and I wanted to ask if you were Gym Trainers or somethin' I can have a battle against to practice for fightin' the Gym Leader here," said a high-pitched voice, in one breath, as soon as Max opened the door. "If that's okay with you, I don't know if you do that here, it seems to be a bit of a rare thing in Hoenn." The speaker was a brown-haired, naturally-tanned girl, wearing a blue t-shirt, green shorts, and she had a small black bag slung over her shoulder. She looked like she was a year older than Danny, and she didn't sound like she was from the Home Regions.

"Nah, we're not Gym Trainers. Dad'll be back on Wednesday," Max said. Max's Dad had left yesterday, meeting the boys at Danny's home before using alakazam for travel. "But we can battle."

"Oh, wow, you're the Gym Leader's sons?" She paused. "But you don't look like each other at all."

"He is," Danny said, poking Max in the arm as he stepped up. "I'm just his friend." He held out his hand. "I'm Danny." The girl had a firm grip, and Danny nearly stumbled when she pulled him in for a quick hug.

"And I'm Max." He didn't stumble, but he did get the same hug. "The Gym Leader's son." He stepped out of the way, inviting her in. "Come on."

"Thank you so much!" the girl gushed as she stepped in. "I'm Linda, I'm from Castelia City in Unova, and this'll be my last Gym Badge for the Hoenn League if I win here." They reached the gym, the Pokémon in them watching them enter. "You're trainers, right? How many badges do you have? Are you even going for badges? You don't look like Coordinators, and I didn't see any fancy Contest moves or somethin' while I was watchin'."

"We got six badges," Danny answered, listing all of them for Linda. "Which ones you got?"

"Dynamo, Meadow, Mind, Frost, Rain, Toxic, Twister," Linda listed in turn. "Been an amazin' year. It's just great to be out here and travel with Pokémon all the time. And there's so much variety here! Unova's kinda isolated, so we only got migratin' Water and Flyin'-types in common with you."

"So you've been using Unova Pokémon to defeat our Gym Leaders?" Danny teased, but he saw Linda's face lose her smile. "Huh?"

"I started here," Linda stated quietly. "Unova ain't a good place for travellin' right now. Some guys callin' themselves Team Plasma are stealin' all sorts of Pokémon from trainers. Liberatin', they call it. Been goin' on for nearly two years now." She let out a sigh. "I know my parents are okay, but..."

"You can't help fearing for them and their Pokémon," Max finished softly.

"So. Battle?" Danny broke the very uncomfortable silence. Max gave him a weird look, but Danny ignored that with the ease of long practice. "Just a friendly spar. One on one, everyone fights everyone once."

"Okay," Linda agreed, still a bit downcast. "Max? You up for goin' first against me?"

"Always!"

Everyone won one battle. Max's manectric beat a Unovan Ghost-type – a yamask – in the same way that she used to fight duskull: launch Thunder Waves until one stuck and then get in close. Danny thought Max was going a little easy on the yamask, since he didn't see a Discharge, but it still worked. Linda then proceeded to beat Danny, as snorunt lost to another Ghost-type: a golett that just hit too hard with Drain Punch. Lastly, Max and Danny had one of their many, many spars, with skorupi overcoming poliwag through attrition and poison. Luckily, they had plenty of Pecha Berries on hand, even without their big first aid kit, which was in Danny's room.

"Ghost-types, huh?" Max asked when they were all done, enjoying a slice of cake – baked by Danny's father – on the benches. "That golett looked good."

"Thanks! Actually, it's not Ghost-types. Those were just gifts from my family. See, all my grandparents really like Ghost-types, so they give all of their grandchildren Ghost-types to start out with, and I got two of those, but what I really like are Ground-type Pokémon. I got a numel, a swinub, and a trapinch. The swinub's in Unova, at Professor Juniper's place. Team Plasma won't dare stealin' there – lots of powerful Pokémon there, including some of the Gym Leader Pokémon." Linda'd gotten more animated as she talked, but she shrunk once Team Plasma came up again.

Max reached over, handing her another slice of cake. "Laboratories are always really safe. It'd be a fool who tried to steal there." Then, under his breath, so that only Danny, who sat in the middle, could hear it. "I know some of those."

"What other Pokémon do you have?" Danny asked after restraining his laughter from Max's remark. He'd heard plenty about that Team Rocket trio that dogged Ash and friends, and their ridiculous plots.

"A beautifly, a nidorino – he's in Unova too – and a hitmonchan. He taught golett a lot about punchin', like that Drain Punch that beat your snorunt," Linda told them. "Just eight Pokémon, but that's fine. It's hard enough to keep jugglin' all Pokémon around so they spend some time with me."

"I hear ya," Max said. "Seven's hard enough."

"Don't listen to him," Danny said in a stage whisper. "He's only had that poliwag for a few days, and that's his seventh."

Linda giggled for a second or so. "What Pokémon do you have then? Got anything from your family like I did?"

"Technically yes, for Danny here," Max said, while Danny shot him a mock-glare.

"My uncle's the local Professor," Danny admitted. "We each got one of the starter Pokémon."

"Really? You are so lucky! Which ones did you take? I really like mudkip, but they're so rare in the wild!"

"I have marshtomp, whismur, duskull, aron, gulpin – he's at my uncle's now – and you know about skorupi and snorunt," Danny said, sending out his starter. The marshtomp looked a bit surprised to be sent out, and tried to grab some cake, but Danny stopped him from grabbing some, before giving a slice to the marshtomp himself. "He's not exactly good at grabbing things," Danny said by way of explanation.

"He's a disaster at it," Max corrected, and Danny didn't even need to turn to know that he was grinning. "Worst motor skills I've ever seen in a marshtomp."

"You've seen all of three?" Danny ventured.

"Still true." Danny couldn't deny that. "I started with treecko, who's a grovyle now, and I caught a baltoy on—"

"A baltoy!?" Linda immediately got up and walked over to Max. "Where'd you get it? My uncle has a claydol and I think it's the best Pokémon ever!"

"Izabe Island, near Mossdeep," Max said as he sent the small Pokémon out. "I also have a ninjask who's at Professor Birch now, and a clefairy and a..." He trailed off, watching Linda coo over the baltoy. "Did you hear anything I said just now?"

"Maybe?" Linda said, giggling. "Sorry, it's just… They're really rare, aren't they? I never thought I'd meet one." She gently prodded baltoy to turn around, which it did. "You're so lucky you have one. Isn't it just amazing?" She turned, so she could look at baltoy and the boys on the bench at the same time. "Oh, sorry, you were tellin' me your other Pokémon? Can you repeat them?"

Max duly did that as Danny tried to remember exactly how rare baltoy were. He knew it had come up in one of their talks with his uncle at some point. Oh, it was on the tip of his tongue. "Route 111!" he burst out, causing Linda and Max, who were chatting about something else Danny hadn't caught, to look at him. "That's where my uncle says a lot of baltoy are." A blush crept into his face, which wasn't helped when Linda hugged him.

"Thank you! I'll go there right after defeatin' the Gym Leader. Will you be here for that too? Are you going to fight for a Balance Badge? It'd be amazin' if we could all do that."

"Er, no, sorry," Max said, and Danny saw Linda's face fall. "It's… kinda weird to fight your own Dad. Both of us didn't want to do that."

"And we're planning to go to Mauville soon," Danny added. "We're leaving on Monday, and Max's Dad doesn't return until Wednesday." Then, he had an idea. "You know what you could do, Linda? After getting your badge here and getting a baltoy."

"Hm?"

"Go to Coral Cape. That's all the way to the north-west of Hoenn. The Ground Gym is there, and there's a boat that'll get you to Lilycove when you want to leave for the Ever Grande Conference."

For the third time in less than an hour, Danny received a hug from the Unovan girl. "Oh, thank you so much! You've helped me a ton today. I wasn't sure what to do until the Lea… the Ever Grande Conference, but now I know. Thank you!"

The clock struck twelve, reminding Danny that they'd be having lunch with his father. "Max?" he said, tilting his head towards the clock.

"Ah, yeah." Max returned baltoy, to Linda's disappointment, and Danny did the same to marshtomp, before taking the plastic plate to growlithe, who gladly devoured the cake crumbs. "We need to run now, but wanna hang out tomorrow? See something of Petalburg?"

Wait, did he hear that correctly?

"Sure!" Linda said as she slung the strap of her bag over her left shoulder. "Meet here?"

"At 1pm?"

"Okay!" Linda said. The three walked out, and when they were outside, Linda turned around, hugging Max, and Danny, one last time. "See you tomorrow!"

She walked off, going left towards the city centre. Danny, in the mean time, just turned to look at Max, who was closing the Gym behind them. "Max?"

"What?"

"Max and Linda..." Danny began in a singsong voice, and the instant blush on Max's cheeks felt so good to see. It completely ruined the glare. "Oh, come on. Admit it."

"I don't! I just get what she's afraid of."

Danny thought about that for a second. "True, but still..."

"Not. A. Word." Max started walking, and Danny and growlithe had to hurry to catch up. "Besides, wouldn't you want some help in an unfamiliar city?"

"Fine," Danny drawled, resolving to take a small camera with him tomorrow. Max's parents had to see this. As did Danny's uncle. And his parents. And Ash. And May.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Monday morning was overcast as Danny, his parents, Max, the Birch family growlithe, and an alakazam stood in a crowded living room. "Last chance lads. She could take you to Mauville proper, no problem," said Danny's Dad as he put a hand on his alakazam's back.

"Twenty miles out is fine," Max replied politely. "Gives us some time to train before taking on Wattson."

"Do be careful, boys, and stay away from that Cycling Road. All sorts of hoodlums are on there." That was the third time Danny's Mum had said that, as if they hadn't heard it the first two times. "Go make us even prouder than we already are."

"Will do Mum. Alakazam?" Danny said as he gently grabbed the Pokémon's wrist. Max did the same on the opposite arm. "Take us away."

The world vanished into nothingness, reappearing a moment later on an empty hill overlooking route 110. Part of Cycling Road was visible in the distance, as were the Mauville outskirts. The air was incredibly fresh; a big difference from Petalburg, and the only sound they heard was the warm wind rustling the long grass as clouds flew by overhead.

Alakazam left after they'd thanked her, and Danny took a deep breath. Home had been great, but this… This was great too. "To Mauville?"

"To Mauville."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _The Hoenn Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Unova due to risk of insurgent conflict and potential theft of Pokémon._

 _All Hoenn nationals in Unova are advised to leave the country, unless they have Pokémon capable of holding off a sustained assault from several mid-level Pokémon at once. These Pokémon should additionally ideally include a Psychic or large Flying-type to allow for rapid removal from the situation._

 _The insurgents known as Team Plasma are capable of striking throughout the entire region, though the West quadrant, including Driftveil and Mistralton, and the North quadrant, including Icirrus and Opelucid, are particularly at risk. Government and League efforts to contain the insurgency are limited to the capital Castelia, the seat of government in Nimbasa, and the Pokémon League in Vertress._

From: Hoenn Foreign Office Travel Advisory for Unova.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** A calmer chapter, because it's not all enraged Pokémon, Gyms, and dangerous weather.


	13. Chapter 13: Protection

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Protection**

The main part of Route 110 just after the Cycling Road ended was on a seaside levée raised high above the water level. A second, lower, levée was closer to the sea, but that, too, towered over the sea at this time of year. It hadn't when Max had been here with Ash, but that had been in April, not August. In the distance to the east, Max and Danny could see New Mauville: the island that had been turned into an underground power plant for Mauville and surroundings. To the north, they had a clear view of beautiful Mauville, Hoenn's second city and a place no trainer could really avoid, ever.

It was around ten in the morning, though both Max and Danny had been up and walking for a few hours already, helped by the prospect of thunderstorms coming in during the early afternoon. Danny had woken Max at six and told him to start moving so they could be inside before the thunderstorms hit.

Privately, Max thought Danny was overreacting: manectric could handle everything a regular thunderstorm threw around anyway, but he had to agree that being soaking wet for hours was a stupid thing. There was next to no cover on the levée.

They walked up to the entrance to Mauville's small harbour – meant for fishing boats, speedboats, small boats in general – planning to pass it by to get to Mauville itself when someone hailed them. "Max! Danny!"

The slightly hoarse voice belonged to Wattson, who was running towards them as fast as he could, which was faster than Max thought possible for someone in his late sixties. There were no Pokémon by Wattson's side, nor was his assistant Watt anywhere to be seen. "Wattson! What are you doing here?" he greeted.

"No time to waste. Come with me!" Wattson ordered, and he turned around, leading Max and Danny to a small boat with just enough room for a cabin and a deck that could probably hold about four or five people total.

"What's the matter, Wattson?" It wasn't like Wattson to be so serious, Max remembered. The Gym Leader loved to laugh, and often did so. "Trouble?"

"You could say that. Watt's missing," Wattson said as he started the engine and threw two life-vests to the boys. "Hop on!"

Danny looked like he was going to say something, but Max silenced him and pulled him on board. "Where are we going?"

The engine roared as Wattson opened the throttle, reminding Max that he hadn't put his life-vest on yet. "New Mauville!" Wattson managed to yell over the sound of the boat slicing through the calm water. "Sent him last night after strange readings. Didn't come back!"

"Why take us?!" Danny objected. "You're a Gym Leader!"

Max dragged Danny into the cabin and closed the door behind them, removing a lot of background roar. "Because I expect foul play," Wattson told them as he stared ahead. "I talked to some friends in the harbour. They said they saw a weird boat around the bay yesterday." He steered the boat around a buoy, veering right, then left. "An armoured boat. You might not know, but—"

Max let out a gasp. It couldn't be. "What? Team Aqua?" he interrupted Wattson, causing the Gym Leader to cast a glance at him. "They were disbanded, I was there!" That prompted Wattson to turn around fully, surprise written all over his face. "I was. Ask Ash."

"Ten year olds around a Legendary scuffle." Wattson sounded annoyed, and for a brief instant, Max wondered what Wattson would do when Max told him about jirachi and LaRousse. Probably crash the boat, which made him decide against it. "Regardless, whoever took Watt overpowered him. And if they overpowered Watt inside the power plant..."

"They're prepared for you as well," Danny finished. "Why us?"

"Honestly? You're the first here today," Wattson replied honestly. "But there are also rumours… Something in the mountains, two months ago." Before Max could react to that bombshell, Wattson started slowing the boat down. "We're nearly there. Keep an eye out, will ya?"

The boat floated up to the small pier, Danny jumping off to secure the rope and make sure the boat didn't float off. A small open motorboat had also been tied to the pier, but there was no sight of any other boat, or anything else, on the island as far as they could see.

A flash of light and the sound of a Pokémon appearing caused Max to turn around, but it was only Wattson sending out his manectric. The yellow-and-blue Pokémon gave a happy bark, and one more when it saw Max, recognising him. "Send out a Pokémon. We might get company."

Grovyle and Marshtomp accompanied the group as they walked a winding and paved path that barely held nature at bay. Sunlight barely filtered through the leaves overhead, and bushes crept onto the path every so often. It was the perfect place for an ambush, Max thought, but none came, not even as they crossed the relatively open terrain to the entrance of the facility.

The door had been forced open, they saw up close, but they couldn't hear anything, nor did manectric's sniffing result in raised fur. Wattson led them back, returning manectric for a luxray as he did. "As I expected. They're ambushing inside. A smart choice when dealing with electric-type Pokémon."

"Because electric attacks and equipment don't mix?" Danny asked.

Wattson nodded approvingly. "Not just those, but well reasoned. We'll have to use physical moves, and be very careful with other moves."

"Water Gun should be okay," Max added. "If you don't flood the place. Mud Shot too." He made a quick count. "You've got all the physical Pokémon. I can't use half my team." Bagon and clefairy were out, and his own manectric was with Danny's uncle. "So…"

"Hope we don't need all our Pokémon," Danny spoke softly. "Starting to sound like a bad idea." Then, to Wattson. "What's the plan?"

"We take an alternate path inside. Any ambush will be on the main path, so we'll dodge most of them." Made sense. "They might come at us from behind while we're in the control room, but the corridor is insulated."

"Meaning you can leave some of your Pokémon to guard!" Max exclaimed. "But what if they have a Pokémon with Lightningrod?"

Wattson grinned. "Not a problem. I'm putting the two strongest Pokémon I have with me on guard duty. They're part of my top tier team." He looked at grovyle and marshtomp. "I can only let luxray help in the control room itself. The other three are for retreating, if we need it. You think you're up to it?"

"Always."

Max heard, rather than saw, Danny take a deep breath. "Let's do this."

In they went, immediately heading right into a sort of break room with comfortable chairs, a sofa, and a TV. The door to it was locked, and when Wattson locked it again, to stop someone from following them, Max heard a sound from behind the sofa – a soft moan.

Luxray, grovyle, and marshtomp all took up guarding positions as Wattson walked up to the sofa. "Nelson!" he exclaimed. "Quick, get me a first aid kit." Max made to open his pack, but Danny saw a kit hanging on the wall, and retrieved it first.

The man, older than Max's father, with grey streaks in his hair, looked a mess. His face was swollen, and dried blood had dropped from a wound on his forehead, creating a small puddle on the floor and the cushion that his head laid on. Wattson quickly cleaned the wound, handing the man, who seemed to have woken up a bit during the Gym Leader's care, some painkillers afterwards.

"Thanks." The man's voice sounded terrible, even after swallowing one glass of water, and he feebly motioned for more water, which Max got him. "Good to see you."

"Who did this, Nelson?" Wattson pressed. "Where are the others?"

"Captured. I got away. Lost them. Made my way here. They tried breaking door. Didn't work."

"How'd you get… _that?_ " Max asked.

"Norman's kid." Did _everyone_ know who he was? "Hint. Ice Balls to face. Hurt." He managed to give a lopsided grin, which only made his face look worse.

"Why didn't you contact us?" Wattson asked, as he grabbed the Pokénav clipped on Nelson's belt, pressing a few buttons. "Oh. They're jamming. Clever."

"Tried twice. Didn't work. Don't dare go out. Thought they were guarding."

"They weren't. How many are there, Nelson? Who was it?"

"Team Aqua. Four or five, all men. Leader of the bunch looked familiar, crazy. He ordered the Ice Balls." Nelson tried to stand up, but failed, prompting Wattson to extend a hand and carefully pull him up. The man managed to get to his feet, but he wasn't exactly stable until Wattson and Danny both helped him to the sofa. "Thanks. I'll be okay. Go save the others."

They left Nelson, and Max and Danny's packs minus a few items – rope, tape, torches, Max's pair of insulated gloves – in the room, taking the other exit into a narrow corridor that was barely wide enough to let all three of them walk side by side. After Wattson closed the door behind them, again, he sent luxray forward to scout. The four-legged Pokémon did so dutifully, carefully scouting around every corner, but they encountered no Team Aqua members until the corridor's end.

"Control room is ten meters to our right. Ready to fight?"

Max released baltoy behind all of them while Danny did the same for snorunt, next to marshtomp. "Now we are," Max spoke for both of them.

Wattson motioned for them to step back, and after they did, he opened two pokéballs. "Electivire, magnezone, watch our backs," he ordered as the two powerful Pokémon materialised between the Gym Leader and Danny's Pokémon. "Let's go!"

The door opened inwards, but the moment it was opened, Wattson and luxray quickly, but quietly, filed out, followed closely by electivire and magnezone, then marshtomp and snorunt. All but the two powerful Pokémon went right, and Max did so as well, grovyle and baltoy following him into a wider corridor. Up ahead, they could see the control room, but nobody was visible in the small bit they could see.

"Hello Team Aqua," Wattson announced his presence as luxray rushed in, ducking under a Water Gun. "Before we fight, can we have us a little parley?"

"Nnnnrrrrg, granted," called out a deep, gravelly, voice from the control room. Max and Danny walked in after Wattson. Like before, their enemies had taken up position at one end of the room, and Max saw several hostages tied up behind the three Team Aqua members. Two of them were regular grunts, but the last one was familiar. "What do you want, Wattson," Archie, leader of Team Aqua, said.

"For you to release the hostages, or else." Beside Wattson, the luxray growled angrily.

"Or else what." Archie laughed his deep, hoarse laugh, head tilted back, and when the tanned man opened his eyes again, his gaze fell on Max. "You!" he roared. "I remember you! You helped stop us in releasing our GOD!"

Was that a glint of blue light in his eyes?

"Archie, I'm giving you one warning. Release them."

"Come and get them!"

Max had taken quick stock of the Pokémon at the other end of the room earlier. Two mightyena, two crawdaunt, a walrein, and a marowak faced them, and most of them shot off an attack immediately – ones that met a wall of Protects as luxray, marshtomp, and snorunt protected their trainers while they moved away from the fight. The Bubblebeams, Ice Ball, and Shadow Balls vanished, but then, the mightyena were on the Pokémon.

Marshtomp and grovyle each intercepted one mightyena: marshtomp with a punch, and grovyle with an attempted Leaf Blade. He missed, and the black and grey Pokémon forced him to the ground, but Max's Pokémon used his legs to lash out, kicking the mightyena in the belly, forcing it back.

At Max's feet, Baltoy suddenly flared into action, forming a dense shield that stopped an Ice Ball with a loud thud before creating rocks from nowhere and guiding them towards their targets: the crawdaunts trying to catch snorunt.

A cry of pain jolted Max to his grovyle, and he saw that one of the mightyena had managed to land a bite. In reply, grovyle gripped the mightyena by the neck, and drained energy through its fingers. A little help from marshtomp, jumping on the mightyena's rear, made sure that the Dark type couldn't escape, while luxray covered them with a Protect. Lastly, baltoy crashed one of its rocks into the canine's head, and with a whimper, the mightyena fell, to the dismay of one of the grunts.

Max whistled, calling grovyle back for a moment to see how bad the bite was, and snorunt covered his retreat with a perfectly executed Protect. Up close, Max saw that the bite had drawn blood, and grovyle's left arm looked off, but the wound was already closed, thanks to Mega Drain. He nodded, and grovyle leapt straight into the fight again, landing on a crawdaunt's back before being forced off by a Water Gun.

A loud thunk called Max's attention to baltoy, and he caught the tail end of a bone returning to marowak as baltoy wavered in mid-air. The ground-type made to rush the baltoy, but then an angry Water-type barrelled into him, delivering both a body check and a Water Gun follow-up before rushing away again, sending a glob of mud at a crawdaunt.

Green light lit up the room again, as snorunt, again, Protected grovyle from being hit – this time by an Aurora Beam from the looks of it – and grovyle took full advantage of the shield by shooting a Bullet Seed that hit the second mightyena right in the… Max winced, tensing his legs for a moment.

Five on four, and both the crawdaunt managed to disengage from marshtomp and snorunt, chasing luxray away from the walrein with threatening, but inaccurate, Crabhammers before taking up position aside the walrein, which forced the other Pokémon to move with a powerful Aurora Beam.

Grovyle met marowak on the right side of the room, bone clashing with blade in furious hand to hand combat. Luxray, marshtomp, and snorunt were all to the left side, out of position after dodging the Walrein's attack. Baltoy hovered near Max, but it still hadn't really recovered. "Get the baltoy!" Archie shouted. "Get them!"

Bubblebeam and Ice Beam launched. Luxray blurred in a burst of speed, appearing in front of them as the world went green once more, but the Protect wavered the instant it was hit by the three attacks, and luxray cried out in exhaustion.

Marshtomp reinforced the shield, making sure that the attacks didn't break through, and snorunt's Shadow Ball interrupted both crawdaunt before snorunt jumped in front of marshtomp, executing her own Protect, and allowing Danny's starter to immediately spit mud down the room, finally interrupting the Ice Beam.

The crawdaunt were back, though, and luxray took over the Protect again as snorunt's fell. She, too, fired an immediate attack down the room: a powerful Icy Wind that glazed the floor between the two groups of Pokémon with a layer of frozen, slippery, ice. A moment later, grovyle, with a little help from baltoy, flung the marowak into the Icy Wind, which knocked the Pokémon out.

Max felt a tap on his wrist, and a hand trying to open his clenched fist. Looking to his left, he saw, and heard, Danny shout another order to his Pokémon before giving Max half a look. Max opened his fist, and Danny put two cylindrical objects in them. What were…

Oh. _Oh._

Wattson, too, got them, and Max saw the Gym Leader go for a pokéball, as did Danny, while the three Pokémon still rotated Protects in front of them, the ones not Protecting firing enough projectiles to keep the crawdaunt and walrein away. Max quickly returned baltoy – who was keeping itself upright, but touching the ground – and put the ear plugs in.

Moments later, whismur and electrode joined the fray. Max looked left, and though he couldn't hear a word Danny said, he had a good idea of what was ordered.

Three Protects flared into existence, green and blue light filtering Max's view of the other end of the room, protecting the trainers from the worst effects as whismur unleashed an all-or-nothing Uproar, loud enough to filter through the ear plugs. At the same time, the electrode rolled in, glowing slightly yellow with tightly controlled electricity. The Uproar hit home, as did the electrode, multiple times. Crawdaunts, walrein, and humans all went down to the floor.

The Protects fell, and Wattson's luxray knelt, in no fit state to battle, but the fight was over. Marshtomp's Torrent slowly receded as he, too, realised the fight was over, while snorunt joined electrode in standing guard over the fallen Aqua members. "… again, Archie," Wattson said as Max removed the hearing protection. "Seems you're going back to prison, hahaha!"

Archie tried to get up from his prone position, but snorunt jumped on his back, keeping him down. "You will pay for your crimes against Kyogre! You, and all of those opposing her!" he spat, loudly. His face was a mix of anger and pain – his two grunts skipped the anger and just laid on the ground, hands over their ears.

"You tried that two years ago," Max found himself saying as he walked up. "You lost."

Max was certain nobody except the rescuers could hear anything, and he didn't even know why he said it, but Archie apparently understood enough. "SHUT UP!" the former Aqua Leader roared with a definite flash of blue light in his eyes, and he shook off the snorunt, jumping up and lunging for Max, arms outstretched. He made it halfway when Max's starter barrelled into him. The Grass-type was lighter, but infinitely more nimble, and he recovered first, rolling back before standing over Archie, Leaf Blades lit.

It was enough to cow the Team Aqua leader.

Two hours later, after Mauville's police force and a couple of doctors had taken nearly everyone away to either prison or hospital for a check-up, the rescuers sat inside the room they'd found Nelson in, eating a simple lunch. "I suppose you want to challenge my Gym, boys. Last I heard, you were on six badges."

Max swallowed a bite of his sandwich. "Yeah. That's what we came here for. Before you..." Oh, what was the word?

"Conscripted?" Wattson offered.

"Thank you. Conscripted us," Max finished. "Not that I minded putting Team Aqua in their place," he added in a softer voice.

"What was up with that Archie guy?" Danny asked. "He was crazy."

"Villains always are a little crazy," Wattson said as he scratched his manectric's fur. "Although he did seem to have more than a few screws loose. Or should I say that he went off the deep end?" One booming laugh echoed through the room, followed by two softer chuckles. "Anyway, thanks boys. I couldn't have done it without you. You have great teamwork, with your Pokémon and with each other. I'm sure your parents will be proud of you."

"You're going to tell Mum and Dad?" Max blurted out. "Why?"

Wattson looked at Max like he was crazy like Archie. "It's not every day their son helps in stopping a hostage situation," the Gym Leader explained calmly. "You should be proud of that! Twelve, and already helping Gym Leaders!"

"I did _that_ when I was eight," Max muttered. He shook his head. "Won't they be angry you conscripted us?"

"Why?" Wattson appeared genuinely confused. "You were involved with the groudon and kyogre scuffle, right? Surely they know about that." He took a careful look at Max's face as the trainer felt a blush creeping in. "Or do they?"

The blush on Max's face intensified as he tried to study a very interesting breadcrumb. "They don't," Danny said. "Nobody involved told Max's parents."

"But _why?_ Shouldn't your parents know about what happened? To help you?"

Both Wattson and Danny looked at Max. They wanted answers, and as much as Max tried to resist their looks, he couldn't. "We were afraid," he began softly. "I don't know what May was afraid of specifically, but I was afraid I'd have to go home. Lose out on everything."

"I see." Max tried to read Wattson, but he couldn't. "It wasn't the only thing, was it?" Wattson asked, nodding when Max reacted. "I thought so. Those Team Rocket goons seemed the persistent type."

"They were," Max said. "Plot after plot. I lost count how many times they tried."

"Once is too many," Wattson said firmly. "Regardless, Max, we'll have to tell your parents this."

"Why?" said both boys, causing them to look at each other and grin.

Wattson smiled at their byplay. "Because there's probably going to be a press conference about this, and I won't be able to keep your names out. Our Officer Jenny loves to praise people that helped her, and we certainly did!" Wattson's face broke out in a big smile for a moment. "What we could do is stretch the truth."

"How?" Danny wondered, leading Wattson to explain his plan. "Sounds good."

Max nodded agreement. "Yeah."

"Well, that's settled." Wattson rose from his chair, stretching his muscles for a bit. "Boys, is there anything I can do for you? You helped me a lot, and I'd like to reward you if I can. Just no badges, okay?"

"Well..." Danny began as he, too, rose from his seat, marshtomp appearing beside him from under the table. "I saw a few magnemite when we were walking back..."

"And you'd like to catch one?" Wattson asked, breaking out in another wide smile when Danny nodded. "Oh, that's no problem. Let's go see if there's one that wants to join you."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"And that is why we sit here now," Wattson spoke into the microphone. They were far underground, in Wattson's main battle arena, but the place hadn't stopped journalists from attending. Max counted at least fifteen, and five photographers. The flashes were really annoying, too. "Are there any questions?" Several people signed. "Ms. Dreyer."

A grey-haired woman stepped forward, her photographer by her side. "Why did you choose to take these two trainers? Aren't they… well… young?"

"Age is no guarantee of skill," Wattson told the group. "And they were simply in the right place at the right time. I'll let Mr. Maple explain."

Max adjusted the microphone stand a bit, thankfully without any screeching feedback. "We saw Wattson hurrying on the docks, and we decided to walk over and see what was up. When Wattson explained, we couldn't not help." He saw several journalists scribble something onto pads. "I'm glad we were able to help. Any day an escaped criminal is put behind bars again is a good one."

"Mr. Trim?"

A younger journalist, looking barely in his twenties, dressed in a similar casual style to Max and Danny, took a step forward. "Mr. Gym Leader, which of the boys was more useful in the battle?"

"Both of them were super," Wattson retorted immediately. "I could _not_ have done it without them. Max provided valuable knock-outs on several Pokémon, and Danny made sure we all could continue the fight, and he came up with the plan that disabled the criminals." Wattson chuckled. "Quick minds, a good grasp of strategy, and well-trained Pokémon. I am certain both of them are a constant source of pride for their family."

"And what were you thinking, Mr. Birch? Wasn't it a thoroughly risky move to use Uproar in such a fashion?"

"Maybe," Max heard Danny say as he looked out into the arena. Wattson had coached them not to look at each other during the press conference. "But it had to stop. Too dangerous with people around."

"As I mentioned before, all the hostages were treated at the hospital, and with two exceptions, they are at home right now," Wattson added firmly. "Those two exceptions involve injuries inflicted by Team Aqua. While the method was unorthodox, the results were shockingly effective." Soft groans came from their audience. "Mrs. Stone?"

"Officer Jenny," the third reporter, a middle-aged woman with several bangles and bracelets around her wrists, said, "how is it that this Archie escaped? Wasn't he locked up thanks to the Pokémon G-men's efforts of two years ago?"

Mauville's resident Officer Jenny, who was standing behind Danny, stepped forward, speaking without the aid of a microphone. "He was. We are uncertain how he escaped. Rest assured that we will find out and make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"And what of his Team Magma counterpart?"

"He remains in prison."

The press conference wound down after several other questions, until only Danny, Max, Wattson, and a few people clearing the equipment away remained. The trainers left them to that, walking into what looked like a lounge. "Well done boys," Wattson complimented them as soon as he closed the door. "I'm sure you'll see your pictures all over the news tomorrow. Hahaha!"

"Thanks," Max said, unceremoniously flopping down onto the sofa. "Just what I wanted."

"Yes. Your father mentioned you didn't like your status." Wattson offered a fizzy drink, which Max gratefully accepted. "But you did this, on your own merit. You did great, and that's what makes people notice you." Max took a sip as Wattson sank into a chair. "Of course, they'll be expecting more of you now. It's a feedback loop, you see."

Max did. Unfortunately. "Great."

"Enough about that. Let's talk fun. When do you want to battle?" Wattson changed the subject, another wide grin on his face. "Oh, the battle's going to be shockingly super. Haha!"

Max met Danny's eyes, and he, and Danny too from the looks of it, had trouble keeping his laughter down. "As soon as possible?"

"Well… That's a problem," Wattson admitted as he took a small planner from a pocket. "I'm not here on Saturday, and tomorrow's booked full. Sunday is the first open slot. The second of September." He turned the planner over to Danny to prove his words.

An uncomfortable, hollow, burning feeling spread from Max's stomach. _How_ could he have forgotten that day was so close? "No," he said, cutting across Danny, who was saying he was okay with that day. "I can't. Not that day." He drank deeply from the can, feeling the bubbles prickle and soothe his dry mouth. "Day after's fine."

"Sunday as a day of rest? I thought that was old when I was your age," Wattson remarked.

"Not that. Just..." Max's throat closed, and he gulped loudly. It didn't help his speech any, and he settled for a shrug.

"Well, Monday is fine by me. Danny?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny replied, but his eyes were on Max, who met them before ducking his head.

If Wattson noticed it, he didn't say. "Monday it is. Boys, let's have a battle to remember."

 _ **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**_

 _Team Aqua Leader Archie was captured yesterday after taking several New Mauville Power Plant workers hostage for approximately 16 hours. Mauville Gym Leader Wattson led a raid to free the hostages, enlisting the aid of young trainers Max Maple, son of Petalburg Gym Leader Norman, and Danny Birch, nephew to Professor Birch of Littleroot. Seven members of Team Aqua were captured in the raid._

From: Hoenn Express, August 31st.


	14. Chapter 14: Offer

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

 **Author's Note:** Wee bit angsty at first. Probably isn't going to be a continuous theme, but Max has reason to mope here. Bear with him for the first quarter of the chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Offer**

Max woke, limbs uncomfortably warm under the thin duvet, mouth dry as a desert, the inside of his forehead plastered with coarse wool pressing against his skull. Throwing the duvet off did little to help, except introduce fresh air to his limbs, which very slowly started cooling them down, providing some relief; enough for him to stomach moving them around. He fumbled for his glasses, eyes half shut, and felt paper on the nightstand, next to what he was looking for. His glasses made it onto his face with years of practice, and he cracked his eyes open wide enough to read the note. It was Danny's, telling Max that he was gone, and would be back for dinner.

The twelve-year-old didn't really feel anything when reading the note. If anything, he just wanted to crawl right back under the covers, sleep the day away, skip it entirely if possible, but he'd already tried that once, around dawn. He'd fallen asleep, deeply enough to apparently let Danny leave without Max noticing, but he felt like shit, for more than one reason.

He walked to the window, but it didn't show much except a sunny day, and a trainer working with her nuzleaf in the courtyard behind the Pokémon Center. Max ducked away when she looked in his direction, remembering he just got out of bed, though he did open the window wide.

The sound of bells ringing ten came in through the window as Max returned from a shower, a breakfast bar in one hand. At least he was fully awake now, and his limbs actually felt like they were useful, though he really didn't feel like doing anything useful, or anything at all.

His eyes fell on Danny's note, and his own Pokénav beside it. He could call Danny if he wanted to. Do something with the day. Something to keep his mind occupied, like last year, when they'd travelled from dawn to dusk to reach Pallet Town, and Max had only realised it was that day over dinner, at which point Ash, Brock, and May decided to team up on him to tease him about forgetting his starter; something that had only stopped when Max had gone to sleep way too late. The teasing had been weirdly fun, too, which was part of the reason why he went to bed so late.

Now, Max wasn't sure he could ever forget the glorious, dangerous, scary day that started out with him hearing a Pokémon cry in pain.

 _Ralts._

He sat back on the bed, reaching deep into his pack to grab the wooden box that he'd been given, not even six months earlier. Inside, the nearly oval green-blue stone lay on a simple cloth bed. For five days, that stone had been his most important possession. Now, it was useless for him. Perhaps he should...

A rustling sound made Max look up, just in time to see a figure appear in the room, facing him. _"Moon's blessings upon you, Max Maple, on this fateful day,"_ came a melodious voice, one he very much recognised. It had delivered words Max had not wanted to hear. The gardevoir had a gentle smile on her face as she levitated herself over, gracefully weaving around the chair in her way. _"Is that what I believe it is?"_

"A Dawn Stone, yeah." Max closed the box, carefully latching it shut. "Works only on male kirlia and female snorunt."

" _Was it your intention to use it on my son?"_ the gardevoir said as she sat down beside Max, though no weight was actually added to the bed.

The box was placed on the nightstand. "If he wanted it."

" _And what if he had acquiesced with or forwent it because he felt an overwhelming preference from his partner? Expectations weigh heavy on everyone, yet_ _more so_ _on empathic Pokémon."_

It took a moment to understand all the words, but Max nodded. "I know." Sometimes, it felt everyone had expectations for him. "I… I hope we could've talked about it."

" _You would have refrained from forcing the issue."_

"Yes," Max said heatedly, anger rising momentarily before he quashed it. "It's more their choice than mine. They evolve, I don't. _Any_ Pokémon that evolves with an item gets the choice to evolve or not evolve. It's only fair." He sighed deeply. "I just wish..."

" _That you could have consulted my son as you would your other Pokémon?"_ Max gave a nod, looking into the gardevoir's kind eyes, though there was something he didn't recognise in them. _"Max… There is something you should know."_

Max's stomach turned to lead. He didn't know what the gardevoir was alluding to, but the last time he'd heard her so grave, she'd told them ralts had been taken. "What is it?"

The gardevoir laid one arm on Max's left hand. Emotion bled over, and Max felt a general feeling of sadness spread in his body. He suddenly understood which emotion he'd seen in the empathic Pokémon's eyes. _"Gardevoir create a bond with their offspring. Through it, I was able to tell you my son yet lived, around five and a half moons ago."_ A short pause fell, not long enough for Max to start speaking. _"That bond vanished suddenly, two moons past."_

"I know," Max spoke quickly, and surprise flared into his hand before he felt the limb touching it being removed. He couldn't meet the gardevoir's eyes. "I was there."

He felt a gentle pressure on his body. It felt like he could have resisted it with a little bit of effort, but he let it guide his movements, trusting the gardevoir. His eyes met the gardevoir's once again, and for a moment, he felt like he was ten and a half again, standing on a cliff with an injured Pokémon behind his back, facing that injured Pokémon's relatives, knowing nothing except the need to get ralts to a Pokémon Center, whatever the cost. He'd hoped the gardevoir and kirlia would listen: even Max knew ralts was in a very bad spot, and could even die. Then, the feeling faded, and the blue light vanished from the gardevoir's eyes, leaving her almost shrunk a tiny bit. _"How?"_ she asked, sounding tired and… perplexed?

Max's throat suddenly filled, and it became hard to swallow. "We…. We found him in a laboratory. He died in-in my arms," Max choked out."He-he was just too injured." He averted his eyes, feeling them burning slightly.

A soft, warm, comforting, _safe_ feeling washed over Max, and he felt the same pressure as before almost asking for permission to guide his movements. It opened his eyes, and he saw that the gardevoir was once again glowing a bright, but muted, blue of psychic powers, which faded even as Max's eyes stopped burning. The feeling, however, remained. _"My… I…"_ the gardevoir started, unsuccessfully. She looked torn, insecure: a weird look on a Pokémon so graceful. _"I can scarcely fathom how that must have been. Yet, I must ask… Would you share your memory with me?"_ The gardevoir silenced Max with a gesture. _"Understand that this will result in you reliving the moment as it happened, as detailed as your mind remembers it and more."_

"And if I don't want to share?" Max asked. A noise came from outside, and Max turned to look at the window to see what it was, though nothing was immediately visible.

" _Then you do not. I, nor any other ralts, kirlia, or gardevoir, will not judge you a lesser human for it. All of us understand that some wounds are too grievous to want to aggravate."_

Max shook his head carefully before meeting the gardevoir's red eyes. His mind had been made up the moment she had asked. "Do it."

" _Then take my arm, and concentrate."_ Max did just that, remembering the fury and fear for baltoy, the thrill and confidence of the battle, and the indescribable mix of emotions that had followed it. _"In three, two, one."_

He knew from the last time, rationally, that only a few seconds had passed, but reliving the twenty or so minutes of memory had been a drawn out thing, tiring as if he'd just run for all that time, and his emotions had gone all over the place. He leant forward, head in his hands, elbows on his knees, trying to recover.

It had been worse this time. Much worse. The memory was so much more detailed than what Max remembered on his own, as if his brain only allowed him to remember the memories from behind a dirty window. This was raw, reliving instead of remembering, and he had noticed so many more details, but only what he had focused on. He'd barely paid any attention to Ash and Danny to his side, and that part of the chamber was a bit of a blur, almost literally so, even in the reliving. At the same time, he'd perfectly understood, and not understood because he'd seen his two month younger self be kind of stupid in attacking, his own thought process during the ursaring fight. He barely remembered that in the dark of night at camp.

The moments after had been closer to his recollection. He'd heard the kirlia speak in his mind, voice so infinitely weak. He recalled the exact words easily, but reliving them made him hear more than just what he thought he'd heard. He thought that kirlia had been almost delirious with pain, and maybe he had been. But now, Max was almost certain he'd heard two other emotions in the telepathic speech: relief and remorse.

Movement nearby caused him to look up. _"Thank you."_ The gardevoir took both of Max's hands in her own, though no emotions came through them. _"From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Your efforts, though unfortunately without result, were as courageous and selfless as they were when we originally met."_

"I just keep thinking. What if we were a day earlier?" They could have been. They'd taken it slow in the mountains due to the heat. It had been something on Max's mind since the evening after, though he hadn't told Ash or Danny. "Could w—"

His mouth just stopped working, and for a moment, he felt like he could not breathe, but the feeling went away as soon as it appeared. _"My apologies,"_ the gardevoir said, and she did sound genuinely sorry. _"Hypotheticals are a path best left unexplored, for that way lies nought but regret and ruin."_ She smiled, a soft 'voir' coming from her lips. _"Or so I was told, seven and a half moons ago. In truth, I find myself revisiting that plain often, in memory or flesh."_

Understanding passed between them as they sank into silence again, Max's mind remembering the memory he had seen the previous time they had met, and the alien and completely normal feelings that it had called up in him. He remembered the power building as the gardevoir attempted to use Hypnosis, and suddenly, something clicked. "The poachers!"

The gardevoir, who'd risen a moment before, looked at him kindly. _"What of them? As far as we know, they have not returned."_

"They might return." Max quickly explained the thought process Ash had laid out: that the events in Petal Grove were related, and that another machine like the one they found probably existed. "They know where you are. They could even try to get a kirlia or a gardevoir."

" _They can certainly try,"_ the gardevoir stated, and Max was reminded of the Pokédex entry on gardevoir, limited as it was. It wasn't just trainers they'd protect. It was family. _"Yet we cannot be everywhere at once. T_ _hough we do exercise increased caution, this is a larger threat than we had envisioned."_ The gardevoir levitated up to him, taking his hand once again. _"Would you come with me, to explain this?"_

"Now?" Max asked, and the Embrace Pokémon confirmed that through a nod. "Will it take long?"

" _You should return before the sun reaches its highest point in the sky."_

"Let me leave a note for Danny." Not that Max really expected Danny to return, but better safe than sorry. He dove into the front pocket of his pack, finding a pen and a small notepad.

" _Where is he? Given his emotions when we last met, I expected to find him today."_

Max finished writing the note, placing it in the same place he had found Danny's note earlier. "He left me here today. That's fine," he added. "It'd be weirder if he was here." He thought for a moment, ultimately clipping his Pokénav on his belt and slipping some wrapped food into his pockets before taking his copy of the key to the room and locking it from the inside. "I'm ready."

They teleported into light rain, but the droplets soon vanished as the gardevoir created an umbrella-like barrier. Max only half noticed that, though, as he was looking at the clearing they'd teleported into. Or rather, the amount of Pokémon. At least thirty, maybe even forty, gardevoir, kirlia, and ralts had to be there, most of them ralts, and nearly every one of them was looking at the two that had just Teleported in. Two of the three other gardevoir in sight joined them, while a third cried a shrill cry that made most of the gazing Pokémon – the ralts in particular – stop doing that.

Ralts's mother, now flanked by a kirlia, was speaking to the two gardevoir that had joined them in rapid, but clear and melodious speech, very much like her telepathy. Though Max couldn't understand anything, just listening to it was a pleasant experience.

Then, suddenly, one of the gardevoir pointed a limb at him. _"We know of this danger. Why did you bring the human?"_ said a male no-nonsense voice in Max's head. _"Does he possess more information?"_

"I do." Max took a step forward, and, on instinct, inclined his head, averting his eyes for just a second before explaining everything to a silent audience.

It almost felt like doing a presentation in school.

" _You say this is a theory,"_ the third gardevoir, also male, asked after Max was done with his explanation. _"How likely a theory is it?"_

"I'm not completely sure, but if it's true, better safe than sorry, right?" Why wouldn't they believe him?

" _Peace, Max,"_ ralts's mother said as she put a calming limb on his shoulder. _"All of us are in agreement that_ _your reasoning has merit_ _. He was merely inquiring for the likelihood of history repeating itself."_

"Oh." That took the harsh feeling in his stomach away, replaced by a slight blush that Max refused to acknowledge. "Well, they kinda know where you are, right? They could just wait for one of the ralts to do the same again."

The no-nonsense gardevoir edged forward slightly. _"Logical argumentation. Would you mind waiting while we discuss this? In the event of questions."_ Max shook his head to indicate that he didn't mind. _"Our thanks."_

And then, Max was alone; a human inside a Pokémon's habitat. Most of the ralts and kirlia were doing other things, and those ralts that were watching him stayed far away as he walked to a large tree to sit under. The rain hadn't stopped, but it was a warm rain, and really, he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed about waiting in the rain, or even the occasional drop that fell from the leaves above him right onto the back of his neck. The entire clearing felt soothing and calm. He didn't know why, nor did he care. It was like a warm bath for his mind and feelings, and he wasn't going to stop and figure it out.

Then, suddenly, a small ralts, barely half the height a normal ralts should be, Teleported onto his knee, unbalancing itself, and falling forward.

 _Embarrassment, confusion, wonder, happy, joy, amazement, love, sadness, sympathy._

Max jolted, and the ralts rolled onto the forest floor. It – _she -_ landed on her face, but soon rolled over again, and Max saw a brief flare of blue as she pushed herself to her feet. She didn't stay still, instead latching onto the human's arm by his side, hugging it for all she was worth. Scattered emotions bled through, weak and easily ignored.

Carefully, Max placed the ralts on his legs again, and she looked up at him with a confused look on her face. It faded as Max started rubbing her back gently, replaced with almost cooing sounds.

The ralts was still very young. Max didn't know how he knew, but he did. When he stopped rubbing her back, he made a face at her, and he got a clear laugh as a response. It was a sound he really wanted to hear more of. It was just so… He didn't even know a word to describe it.

Time passed as Max and the ralts played, and played, and played some more. At some point other ralts started joining them in their games, and they were accepted instantly. Max lost count of the amount of leaves he'd been pelted with, let alone the amount he had dodged, in one of their games, and the laughter that rang in the clearing every time he did get hit almost made him want to get hit again, if it weren't for him knowing, somehow, that the ralts liked the challenge just as much as he did.

He was faking not being able to move as another ralts tried to stop him from doing so – the attack was weak for some reason, and Max knew he could break it without even trying– when a voice intruded on his mind. _"I see you are having fun."_

The light pressure vanished, and Max got to his feet, feeling his shirt stick to him in the small of his back. He turned to look at ralts's mother. "Yeah. It's..." Again, he couldn't find the word, but somehow, he had the idea that the gardevoir understood, from the smile she gave him.

" _Unfortunately it, like all good things, must end. Come."_ She floated away, and Max followed her without hesitation, though he did give a wave to the ralts he left behind.

She led him to the other gardevoir, who told Max that they'd be wary of any poachers and that they would be taking a few other precautions to make sure that the remainder of the… congregation would remain safe. Max expressed his hope that they'd remain safe, and turned to ralts's mother, ready to leave.

" _There is one more thing, young human,"_ said the third gardevoir, and when Max turned around, he saw the gardevoir's eyes glow, letting something emerge from a nearby hollow tree trunk: a green and white Pokémon Egg. _"_ _You have proven, time and again, that you are_ _principled and courageous; caring and intelligent: values we hold in high esteem. You protected one of our own with nothing but your wits and body, and if you had to, you'd do it again in a heartbeat. We name you f_ _riend of the congregation,_ _and offer you this Egg_ _. Will you accept it?"_

 **~~§~~§~~**

In a wooden-walled cabin, two people sat at a round table with a third and empty chair. One of them had black hair, which looked even darker against the deep brown wood behind him, an easy smile, and some almost scar-like marks under his eyes. A pikachu sat on his shoulder. The other man had blonde hair, down halfway to his shoulders. a clean-shaven face with blue-grey eyes, and a formal, almost regal, bearing. He wore a dragon fang pin on his shirt, identifying him as Hoenn's Dragon-type Gym Leader. "It seems your friend and his were enlisted once again," Reginald said as he pushed a newspaper across the table to Ash, who took it. "Front page, albeit a small blurb, and a larger article on page six. Impressive, for ones so young."

Ash scanned the front page while heaping a Berry salad made by one of Drake's crew onto his plate. The blurb's contents nearly made him spill the food, and he saw and felt pikachu catch the one berry that did roll off the table. "Archie? What's he doing free?"

Reginald shrugged as he helped himself to some of the salad as well. "Your guess is as good as any of mine. I imagine Lance is currently finding out whoever was responsible for that security lapse." A creaking door told Ash someone entered the room behind him. "Ah, Terry. Glad you could make it."

"Reginald, Mr. Ketchum," the Coral Cape Gym Leader, wearing a suit, said as he shook hands with each of them in turn before taking the third chair on the table. "Apologies for my delay. Nurse Joy wanted input on treating a marowak with a fractured skull."

"And our apologies for starting lunch, old friend," Reginald said as Terry ladled some soup into a bowl. "You still bless your food, I assume?"

"Yes," Terry said simply. He, too, added some of the Berry salad to his plate, as well as a slice of bread, slathering it with combee honey. Once he'd done that, the Gym Leader recited a short blessing under his breath, while Ash and Reginald patiently waited for him to finish. "I suspect the subject of this luncheon is related to an article in that newspaper."

"Tangentially, but let's eat first. We would be remiss to not enjoy this meal."

While Ash had met Reginald several times before, he couldn't remember seeing Reginald act so warm towards someone. Within minutes, the Dragon-type Gym Leader had asked about Terry's family, his Pokémon, and his upcoming appointment to the Elite Four, sounding as close to genuinely excited as Ash had ever heard the formal man be. Terry, for his part, was quick to smile, and engaged Ash in a chat about Kanto and its Battle Frontier.

Lunch ended, and Ash felt full to bursting. Very different from Brock's cooking, way better than his own cooking, and even better than the few other lunches he'd had on Drake's ship. "An excellent luncheon," Terry agreed with Ash's thoughts. "Ulterior motives, Reginald?"

"I'll confirm nor deny." Reginald's face didn't give anything away either, but Ash suspected Terry was right. "You've read the news, of course."

"About the Centrists' new policy? Of course," Terry confirmed, and Ash frowned. Politics? Bleh. "An accurate summation, Mr. Ketchum, though I suspect your reasons are different."

"I'm sorry, but politics..."

"Not something that interests you, I take it," Terry asked, to a confirming nod. "Ah, to be a teenager again; young and living for battles." He winked. "Have you heard about the protests around Hoenn?"

That Ash had. "Yeah. Some people want to teach kids more about Ghost, Dark, and Psychic-types." Honestly, he didn't think that was a bad thing.

Terry chuckled. "Ah, if only, Mr. Ketchum. If only. You see, one of our larger political parties just adopted a position similar to those protests, citing Petal Grove and Crossgate Town as examples of why." Ash's eyes widened. "You recognise those places, do you not? Something G-men related?"

"Your mind is as sharp as ever, Terry," Reginald interjected before Ash could answer., shooting the Kanto teen a look that didn't blame him for revealing he was a member of the G-men. "Yes, the events there relate to the G-men. Crossgate, and presumably Petal Grove as well, was engineered, instead of natural."

"Of course. Trained Pokémon do not undergo some kind of mass psychosis, prompting them to attack." The Coral Cape Gym Leader sounded almost offended at the possibility. "Were it that only fools and idiots were blind to that fact, but even experienced trainers with a good head on their shoulders have been taken in by this fallacious reasoning. I've had to correct two of my trainers already, and I expect that to continue." Terry leant forward to grab the pitcher of water. "Then again, the Centrists ostensibly have some sharp minds in their midst, and they are usually far above these kinds of populist proposals. They tend towards moderation, deliberation, and intellectualism, arguably to a fault."

Reginald nodded towards Terry. "Aye, therein lies the issue I have with this as well. It is too fast, too radical, too populist, as you mentioned." The fair-haired man leant forward, eyes fixed on his fellow Gym Leader. "Something is afoot here, Terry."

"In politics, something is always afoot. However, I doubt you'd call me here just to discuss politics. Kindly stop beating around the bush, Reginald."

"The G-men need your expertise, Terry. Your knowledge, your observations, your position; all of it, to be frank. Drake is the member inclined most favourably to the G-men, and we require eyes and ears everywhere. So please, old friend, will you not rejoin the G-men?"

 **~~§~~§~~**

The seaside mansion lit up with the orange glow of sunset as the Gym Leader walked up the drive, past well-trimmed hedges and a small fountain. A man met him at the entrance, taking his sister's rapidash away to the stables for some rest, and another man opened the door, beckoning him in. He was led to an antechamber, all ebony and ivory-coloured, where he saw the lord of the manor, sitting in a comfortable high-backed chair. "Ah, greetings, Gym Leader."

"Lord Cavendish." He executed a bow. "Thank you for inviting me."

Lord Cavendish waved him to a seat. "Please, sit, and call me Charles. My inheritance is irrelevant, and I would feel forced to call you Gym Leader all night in response."

The Gym Leader sat, and some small talk passed the time for refreshments to arrive: wine for Charles, tonic for him. Once the servant had left, the aristocrat spoke up. "I would wager there is some uncertainty as to why I invited you."

"The thought crossed my mind." He took a sip of his tonic, relishing the bitter taste. "We walk in different social circles, after all." He cast a look around, seeing portraits of ages, men, women, and Pokémon past on the walls. The Cavendish family was old money, and his own rise in society was on merit. "I have one idea, but that's it."

"Talk me through it?"

"The events in Petal Grove and Crossgate, and your party's new policy." He allowed a smile to shine through as the man opposite him raised an eyebrow. "Roxanne told me you have met in the past."

"That could have been for different reasons," Charles countered as he put his glass of wine down. "Rustboro is a mere ten miles away."

"Yet you have gone on record as a firm proponent of your party's new policy, even earlier today."

Charles conceded the point with a gracious nod. "It appears Roxanne's reports on your reasoning were reliable. Yes, it is in relation to that that I wish to extend an offer to you." The aristocrat rose, taking slow and measured steps on the rug in front of him. "In months prior, I privately funded a facility. It sought to seclude the exact nature of why Psychic-type Pokémon are amongst the most dangerous Pokémon for trainers, amateurs or ace. Then, two months ago, this facility was attacked and demolished." Charles sighed. "Luckily, it was during the night, and all my scientists were off-site."

Charles held a hand up to stop the Gym Leader from interrupting, though he had no plans for doing so. "The police found nothing suggesting foul play, but the facility was, for safety's sake, located remote, and it was three days from my scientists reporting the attack to a police perusal of the place."

"That is uncommonly long." He frowned. He hadn't yet heard the police be that incompetent yet, though Archie's escape, fresh in his mind, came close. "Did you contact the Pokémon G-men?"

"Of course, but they told me that a destroyed facility, while a tragedy, was not within their purview per se."

That made sense. He disliked the G-men. They were too aloof and focused on overly powerful Pokémon like kyogre and groudon, in his opinion. They'd already put out a statement about the new policy, condemning it, but he was less certain. The facts spoke for themselves, and policy should follow facts, not nebulous ideology. "And you'd like me to…"

"Use your network – a Gym Leader of your tenure has one – and see if you can find a trail to the culprit, or culprits." The aristocrat raised his hands in the universal gesture for not knowing something. "Perhaps a sleuth more skilled with Pokémon can reveal what my retainers could not."

"What makes you think foul play was present?"

"Facilities do not explode frivolously, and though Psychic-type Pokémon are powerful, this one lacked both strength and skill to even destroy a doghouse at first." Charles sank back into his chair, folding his hands. "Before you ask, it was a ralts, its Egg generously given by a friend."

That reasoning held up. He had little idea of what machinery was used, but he knew enough to know that they tended to not explode. Ralts, especially newborn ones, were also very weak. Foul play was a definite option. "Alright." He rose, and the aristocrat mirrored him. He noticed that he stood slightly taller than the man opposite him, despite their similar ages. "I'll do this."

"Thank you. I'll have the police report sent to you."

The two men talked remuneration for a spell, finally settling on an acceptable fee. Oddly, the aristocrat had to be talked down from offering too much, as the Gym Leader felt he couldn't accept such a large sum of money for something he'd be doing in his spare time. With a renewed promise of the police report coming to him, and a set of coordinates for the remnants of the facility – somewhere between Fallarbor and Forina – written down, he left atop his sister's rapidash.

Inside the house, Lord Cavendish went to his study, picking up a phone and calling one of his employees. "My lord?"

"He is on board. Place the evidence in the facility."

"Understood, my lord."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"You ask much," said Terry, frowning at Reginald. "Seven years ago, I left the local branch in your quite capable and conniving hands for a reason. I had no intention of returning then. Why would I have any now, given I am about to become a far more busy man?"

"I do not ask for a field agent. Your objections, loathe as you are to explicitly name some of them, are valid," Reginald replied calmly, leaning forward with his head resting on interlaced fingers. Ash kept silent: now was not the time to talk. "Your expertise and time is all I need. Your Pokémon are your own."

The stately Gym Leader sighed, closing his eyes. "Months ago, I would have dismissed your notion with nary a thought. Weeks ago, I would have wondered what brought this request on," Terry stated. "Recent events, however, lead me to believe that you'll need all the help you can get. With the provisos that it is for my expertise only, and that it is until the time this conundrum is solved, I accept." He rose quickly, surprising Ash. "My thanks for the luncheon, Reginald, Mr. Ketchum, but whilst I would love to stay, there is a battle scheduled for an hour from now." Terry smiled, leaning over to rub pikachu behind his ears. "Perhaps we'll talk more later. For now, adieu."

Ash watched Terry leave the room. "That worked, I guess."

"Yes," Reginald agreed simply. "And with far less pain and persuasion than I'd thought I'd need. Unfortunately, that doesn't fill me with joy." Reginald chuckled at Ash's surprised look. "If Terry, who's been out of the G-men game for years and who's generally a very busy Gym Leader, spots that something is wrong with such ease, then it might be worse than I feared."

"Why'd he leave anyway?" Ash wondered. "If he's as good as you say, why didn't he stay?"

The blond man's face darkened. "Seven and a half years ago," Reginald began, "we sought to stop a group of scientists from capturing one of the lati pairs in Hoenn. We succeeded, but Terry's very first Pokémon – a weathered krookodile that was just as wily as Terry himself, perished." Ash shuddered, and pikachu immediately crawled into his arms. He knew that feeling. "He never forgave himself for it, though he puts up a remarkable façade. Four months later, he resigned, leaving his former understudy to head up Hoenn's G-men."

That, Ash could understand, but he still missed one thing. "Why do you want him back now?"

Reginald stood up and gave him a disappointed look. "I mentioned that, Ash. His expertise is invaluable, and his position in the Elite Four is very useful, considering the rest of the Elite Four is more ambivalent towards us. Or worse."

"Oh?" Ash thought for a second, but he didn't know all that much about the Hoenn Elite Four. He'd only met Drake in Hoenn, unlike the Kanto-Johto Elite Four, who he'd all met at some point. Except Karen, but she was the newest member, replacing Lance so he could be the Champion proper again.

"Wallace is okay," Reginald admitted, "if more preoccupied with something else these days. Glacia is outright hostile to us, and her opinion carries weight with Phoebe and Sidney, and several of my fellow Gym Leaders share her opinion as well." The Dragon-type Leader let out a sigh as he walked to the closed door. "If only the world was simple enough to not need us."

 **~~§~~§~~**

An Egg. A _ralts_ Egg. He could have a ralts! Ideas, plans, strategies, all long banished from his mind, rushed back in, filling part of him with the need to accept the offer.

Yet a bigger part of him didn't want it. _"What troubles you, Max?"_ asked ralts's mother kindly.

Max held up a hand, massaging his temples with the thumb and middle finger of the other. This was giving him a headache, rapidly. "I.." he said, trailing off to think for another moment, feeling the gaze of the gardevoir on him. "I can't accept it."

The surprise on all of the gardevoir's faces was kind of funny, though Max didn't feel like laughing at all. His head hurt, his stomach was starting to make itself known as well, and he could feel the temptation to just accept the Egg. _"Why."_

It was a command that demanded answering, and Max obeyed. "It's not _ralts._ It's another Pokémon, who looks like ralts, and is _a_ ralts, but not _my_ ralts." He shot a look at the gardevoir who'd brought him here. "Uh, sorry."

He received a sad smile in return, and Max got the feeling she understood what he meant. _"Are you certain?"_

 _No!_ "No," he said, managing to keep his voice level. "But… Just no."

" _Very well,"_ said the same gardevoir that had produced the Egg in the first place as it was levitated back into its hidey-hole. _"A remarkable choice. Understandable, but remarkable nevertheless."_

" _Would you like to leave now?"_

"Yes please," Max answered ralts's mother. Anywhere was better than here right now. The clearing's happy atmosphere was making him feel uncomfortable. "Thank you," he said to the other gardevoir, bowing deeply. "For..." Everything.

The two male gardevoir returned his bow with an equally deep one of their own. _"A good journey to you, young human,_ _"_ one of them – the one on the left? - said. His headache was deepening, and figuring out which gardevoir said what was becoming harder by the second.

He felt the Teleport, leaving the freshly wet clearing behind for the Pokémon Center bedroom and his bed, which Max immediately collapsed on willingly. It was blessedly soft, comfortable, and the pillow made his head not hurt as much. Then, he felt the gardevoir touch both of her arms to Max's head, and a hint of blue light peeked through his eyelids. At the same time, his headache receded, replaced by the slightest hint of fullness, like being wrapped in a large warm wool blanket on a cold night. "Thank you."

" _It is merely temporary. You would be wise to seek medicine if you do not wish it to return."_ Max sat back up as the gardevoir floated over to the window, looking outside at weather very different from Izabe. Without thinking about it, he took the wooden box off the nightstand and opened it, once again revealing the stone inside. _"As for that, I believe you've come a lot closer to a decision, even without thinking about it."_

"Yeah," Max stated softly. "I have."

The gardevoir floated to the centre of the room, and Max got up, facing her, looking slightly up into her so expressive eyes. Right now, Max didn't know what to make of them, though; he didn't recognise the emotion hidden within. _"It's time for me to leave,_ " she stated as Psychic energy started to flare around her. _"May you fare well in the future, and may our paths cross again. Should we meet again, you, and anyone you vouch for, will be given the warmest of welcomes."_

Max bowed slightly. "I'd like to visit again someday."

" _Then we shall await your arrival."_

A gentle wind ruffled some paper as the gardevoir left, leaving Max alone once again. The room now felt inexplicably empty, and it wasn't just because there was only one body in the room now. He made to send out some of his Pokémon, but before he could do so, gentle piano notes rang through the room. "Max here."

"Hey Max," Danny greeted him from the other side of the call. Max could hear some outside noise behind his friend. "Just checking in. Nurse Joy just told me your door was locked."

"Well, it was," Max stated. He checked the clock. Just past noon. "Want to grab some lunch together? I'll tell you all about it."

"Sure." Max thought Danny sounded just a little confused. "At the Center?"

"Yeah."

"'kay. Be there in ten."

Danny hung up, and Max put his Pokénav down before taking one last look at the wooden box in his other hand. He knew the Dawn Stone was a valuable gift, one that would've cost Max a lot of money to buy for himself, even if he got one in Sinnoh. It was just… he couldn't use it. Not any more.

Perhaps Danny would.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Following Drake's announcement of retirement following the coming Ever Grande Conference, we sought to fill the gap he will leave in our ranks with another supremely capable trainer. Many trainers were scrutinised by all members and the Champion, and one trainer stood out above all the rest. The Hoenn Elite Four welcomes Terry, Gym Leader of Coral Cape, whose sturdy Ground-types will stand stalwart against challenging trainers._

 _Applications for the Ground-type Gym Leadership are now open, and should be sent to the Coral Cape Gym._

 _Signed:_

 _Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia, Drake_

 _Hoenn Elite Four_

* * *

 **Author's Note (2):** And again, no ralts for Max, this time of his own volition. It's probably evil of me to tempt him so, but the Egg-scene just sprung up pretty much wholecloth on the first draft of the chapter.

Also in this chapter: things are happening elsewhere. Nothing important for now, I'm sure.


	15. Chapter 15: Progress

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Progress**

The inventiveness! Oh, that had been an inspired tactic, using the snorunt to ice the arena over to deny manectric most of his agility, and then using the slippery floor to allow a gulpin to slide around far faster than it had any right to. Wattson let out a laugh. Oh, this was why he loved being a Gym Leader. Seeing trainers work with their Pokémon was a true joy.

Danny had a marshtomp; he'd seen it be a terrific help in New Mauville. That meant he couldn't really use one of his magneton: none that he had on hand were both a good challenge and capable of doing something to the marshtomp. As much as he'd like to short-circuit the gulpin's poison, it'd short-circuit him more. He ran through some of his other options. Heliolisk's greatest advantage was his longevity, but that was negated against a marshtomp, and he was saving rotom for Max.

Ah, that Pokémon could work. "Now galvantula, show them what you can do!"

He waited for the boy – _boys -_ to check their Pokédexes, but as soon as Watt gave the signal, he went on the offensive. "Electroweb, shut it down!"

He saw the gulpin roll left, but galvantula jerked his head left as well, and the string of web lashed like a whip, snapping against the poison-type's side.

Poisonous sludge splattered against the shields near Wattson's feet as a retaliation. That was closer than he would've liked, too: galvantula had barely got out of the way. A pink bubble followed it up, but galvantula didn't need any orders to pop that from a distance, sending a short burst of Signal Beam. Behind the Yawn, Wattson saw the gulpin roll back to the other side of the arena.

Danny was using the distance to his advantage. Galvantula was unerringly accurate, but most electric attacks lost power over longer distances. The Electroweb would just fall apart, and he couldn't slug it out from this distance. It'd take far too long, and gulpin would make full use of the defender's advantage at range. Clever. "Close in, then Thunderbolt!"

Protect. Wattson should've seen it coming. The snorunt and marshtomp both had it, and why wouldn't the gulpin. Not something you saw on most younger trainers, but the Protect had results. Hard to argue with them. "Try to get an Electroweb in!"

Electroweb met Sludge, and what remained of the attacks was easily dodged by both Pokémon. Wattson shook his head. Range _really_ wasn't going to work. "Agility and Slash!" he shouted across the field. "Get in close!"

He was hoping to draw out another Protect, but the gulpin let galvantula move in close, its forelegs glowing and striking hard and fast. Wattson heard his opponent order something, but it was hard to hear what exactly. Then, the gas emerging from gulpin's mouth told him enough. "Finish it now!"

The shields thrummed with energy to contain the toxic gas, but galvantula was enveloped by the cloud now. Before long, he leapt back, landing on the halfway line before coughing.

Watt raised a flag towards Wattson, and fans immediately cleared out what was left of the gas from the arena, allowing Wattson to see his opponent again, who had one hand on his belt. "Come on, choose that marshtomp," Wattson muttered. He needed something galvantula could finish off fast, because that toxic gas was only going to cause more and more problems.

Then, Danny switched hands, taking a ball into his left hand before throwing it out, showing a pink Pokémon, a bit shorter than the Bug-type. Wattson didn't understand that. Why send out the whismur when there was a marshtomp available? It didn't make any sense! Unless Danny – or Max, but he looked surprised as well – had seen through the ruse. "This battle between galvantula and whismur decides the winner. Begin!"

At Watt's signal, both trainers ordered their Pokémon into action.

Wattson soon understood why Danny picked the whismur. He was keeping the long-ranged advantage, and he let the poisonous fumes that galvantula had breathed in do the work. Passive, but Wattson couldn't blame the lad at all. It reminded him of Cory and Roxanne: gain the advantage and just run with it. The whismur knew Protect, and waves of sound helped keep galvantula at bay. One of the Electrowebs hit, but that wasn't anywhere near enough; not when galvantula had to skitter away from the Supersonic that whismur sent his way.

He wouldn't be a Gym Leader without one last trick up his sleeve, though. "Give it your all, galvantula! Thunder!"

The Thunder met an Echoed Voice, but overpowered it after a short struggle. Unfortunately for Wattson, even that short struggle created a lot of leakage, as bolts of lightning sought the way of least resistance, into the arena floor. A sizeable shock ran through whismur, but it got up without too much of an issue, though Wattson wagered a second attack of that power would probably knock it out.

Too bad galvantula was spent, and Wattson returned him. Perhaps he had a bit more fight in him, but Danny wasn't going to lose now. Not after that great show. "Well done! The Dynamo Badge is yours!" They met in the middle of the field, and Wattson shook Danny's hand before crouching and giving the whismur a scratch. There was one question he did want answered. "Why the whismur? You have a marshtomp."

The boy opposite him smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "He's not good with speedy Bug-types."

"He loses nine in ten spars with ninjask," Max supplied, walking up from the side of the field. "Galvantula are a lot slower than ninjask, though."

"Everything is slower than ninjask." Out came the eye-roll that Wattson saw so often in his grandchildren. "Anyway, figured whismur was good enough, and she was." A flash of light heralded Danny returning whismur. "So, Max. Ya going to beat this one first try?"

Wattson knew he should've stuck around after the last Gym Leader meeting. Roxanne had managed to beat Max? Not the best run for the Gym Leader's son, then. Wattson'd heard Terry drew him, though the Ground-type Leader had freely admitted it had been a desperation move. "Definitely!"

"Well, I see you're all charged up! Let's have an electrifying battle!"

The battle started with the boys looking up a Pokémon. Wattson couldn't fault them: heliolisk only lived in Kalos, and were rare to boot. He'd exchanged the Egg for this one for one of his spare Electirizers, and the female heliolisk was now a good low-to-mid-tier Pokémon to use in battles, with some tricky moves up her sleeve. Max's grovyle would not find her easy prey.

"Begin!"

 **~~§~~§~~**

A cyclone of purple energy lashed out at Max's baltoy as Wattson's rotom spun, releasing a powerful Hex, forcing the Clay Doll Pokémon to cease its levitation for an instant. Gravity did its work, and baltoy caught itself three feet lower, the Hex comfortably sailing over its head. "Great! Shadow Ball!"

Rotom barely managed to weave around baltoy's attack, and returned fire with the same attack, which prompted baltoy to call up a rock from underground to block it. The rock cracked audibly, but it didn't explode into debris. "Break the rock!"

A psychic spike shattered the rock, sending large parts onto the arena floor, but smaller parts shot up at the rotom in a scattershot formation. Most of them missed, hitting the floor or even the shields near Wattson, but Max saw a few impact before rotom turned incorporeal. It was getting slower.

He heard Wattson shout for another attack, another Hex, and quickly countered with his own order. The Hex flew at baltoy, but it ignored the attack, letting it splash upon itself, in order to grab the rotom psychically. Early on in the battle, the rotom had Uproared its way out, but this time, it couldn't do that before it met the ground. "Ancientpower!"

The rotom, woozy from being slammed into the ground, didn't have the time to exert the energy needed to turn incorporeal. Two rocks slammed into the rare Ghost-Electric hybrid, one after the other, and Max saw the rotom struggle to return to its levitation. "Come on..."

The rotom fell, and Watt ruled that baltoy had won, prompting a wide grin on Max's face. His seventh badge, and the first badge he won with more than one Pokémon left. Turned out that their work with Cosmic Power had been worth it. Magneton barely scratched baltoy despite knowing Tri Attack and Lock-On, and rotom did do more, but it wasn't enough. Max quietly thanked baltoy for an amazing battle and returned it.

"Well, you beat me first try," Wattson said as he held out his hand, having walked up to where Max was. The field hadn't taken too much damage this time, except for a couple of rocks and impacts. "I should have brought a Dark-type. Or Psych Up."

"Is there even a Dark and Electric Pokémon?" Danny asked.

"Haha!" Wattson boomed. "Not as far as I know, but we discover more Pokémon every day. There could be one! Anyway, Max, well done. You, too, get a Dynamo Badge, and it was well-earned indeed!"

They shook hands, and Danny delivered a congratulatory slap on Max's back. "Thanks. That heliolisk was tricky. Sand Veil? On an Electric-type?"

"Surprised you, didn't it?" Wattson's eyes were twinkling with mirth. "Not all Electric Pokémon are about shocking others. Just most of them." The trio shared a laugh. "What was your third Pokémon?"

Max shrugged. He hadn't made up his mind, even at the end. "Bagon or manectric."

"Manectric knows Odor Sleuth," Danny supplied, and his helpless grin caused Max to chuckle. Trust Danny to remember that intimately. "Bagon makes sense too. Rotom was getting kinda slow."

"You have a manectric?" Wattson seemed a bit surprised. "Can you send… him? Her? Out?"

"Sure." Out came manectric, who looked all ready to battle before noticing that she didn't need to do that. She sat down as Max gave her a few scratches, and Wattson started to walk around her. "She evolved against Roxanne a couple weeks ago."

"Good, strong legs, and the fur looks great," Wattson commented as he ran his hand through the fur. "Feels like static, but you probably haven't used her in a few days." He fiddled with his belt, and sent out a jolteon. "C'mon lass, just send some electricity to old jolteon here."

Max frowned in confusion as the canine Pokémon walked away a few steps before launching a low-powered, but continuous, wave of electricity at jolteon. "What's that for?"

"It's better for most Electric-type Pokémon to unload every so often. When current stays cooped up in a Pokémon for too long, it goes stale. Makes it less effective," Wattson explained. "It's not the most well-known fact, but you travelled with Ash for two years. How do you not know this?"

"Never came up," Max muttered. "Pikachu always had a target in…" Max trailed off, remembering Ash telling them about his first day in Hoenn, and the Team Rocket pl… "No, wait, that didn't count."

"Team Rocket?" Max nodded in response, and Wattson sighed. "They were way too persistent." Max couldn't agree more with that sentiment. "Anyway, just do it every three or four nights, and use that baltoy or marshtomp for safety. You'll get a healthier and stronger manectric out of it." The light of the attack faded, and the manectric walked back over to the three humans. "Same goes for magnemite, naturally."

"Right."

"So, boys, seven badges," Wattson said. "Where are you going for your last one? Anywhere but Petalburg?"

Max laughed heartily, and Danny grinned. "Yeah. Sounds right."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Max nodded, and he saw Danny do the same. "Go to Mead Town near Mt. Pyre, or to Kingship Island south of Slateport. Fight one of those Gyms."

"Grass and… Dragon, I think?" Danny ventured.

Wattson gave Danny an approving grin. "Correct. I think both of those Gyms will challenge you the most, and if you want to be the best..."

"Challenging tough trainers is good practice," Max finished. He'd heard that one before, from his Dad. "We'll think about it."

"That's all I can ask, boys. Now, is there anything you need help with?"

Danny shook his head, and Max made to shake it before remembering something that had bugged him. "How did you know about us in the mountains?"

The jovial Gym Leader's face turned serious. "Officially, I don't. Whoever wrecked that facility is unknown, and the police would like a word with any witnesses. Unofficially..." Wattson let a silence fall, and Max waited patiently. "Unofficially I know you and Ash were in that area, and I know Ash was inducted in the G-men. One and one is two."

"How do you know that?"

Wattson's smile reappeared. "Flannery told a few of us about her battle with you – very complimentary for both of you, by the way – and Ash stayed the night with some friends of mine." The Gym Leader then sighed, uncharacteristically. "Look, Max, Danny. It doesn't matter what you did there. If the G-men want something destroyed, there's usually a shockingly good reason for it. I trust them, more than most, but I don't need to know the details. A secret is weaker the more people know about it. I haven't told anyone about this."

"Thanks," Max said softly,. He wasn't sure what exactly he was thanking; either Wattson's discretion or his explanation. Or both. "I think we'll leave now."

Wattson forced a smile on his face. "Then goodbye, and I'll see you in Ever Grande. I'd be positively shocked if you didn't make it, ohohoh!"

Max grimaced, even if he had to admit the pun was so bad it was actually kind of good, forced or not. He said his goodbyes, as did Danny, and they took the lift to the entrance. Max studied his badge all the way up. Having seven badges felt good, and he really didn't want to think much about what they'd just heard.

It was only when he tried to get out of the lift – bumping into something in the process – that he realised he hadn't returned manectric. Oh well, it was a beautiful day, and manectric liked walking with them.

They walked out into the late afternoon sunshine, and Max turned to Danny. "Where to?"

"Ice cream to celebrate?" Danny offered, pointing at an ice cream parlour down the street. "I remember that place from last year's holiday. It's got some amazing stuff." He paused, stopping Max for a second. "Also want to talk about other stuff."

Ice cream was always good, and Max had a decent idea what Danny wanted to talk about. They walked over to the parlour, Max returning manectric at the threshold. Pokémon weren't allowed in, which was probably why he hadn't been here before, if it had even been here when they came through Mauville.

Surprisingly, it was pretty quiet, and they only had to wait for a boy a few years younger than they were. "The two of you look like you just beat Wattson," said a red-haired man behind the counter, grinning as they walked up. "Am I right or am I right?"

"Yep." Max took his Dynamo Badge from his pocket. His badge case was in the Pokémon Center, so his pocket would have to do.

"Let me guess…" The man looked them over, humming exaggeratedly. "Sixth badge."

"Seventh," Max, straight-forward, and Danny, sing-song, chorused.

The man's face fell, and Max was reminded of Danny's Dad in the over the top expressions. "And I thought I was already estimating highly. Oh well, I'll just have to give you a discount. What can I get you? Don't hold back, my ice cream is the best in Mauville!"

Both of them ordered a sundae – classic for Max, and one with chocolate sauce for Danny – and sat down at one of the tables in the parlour. Danny dove into his sundae immediately, while Max tried a small bite at first – and found that it was good. He ate, until he felt the first signs of brain freeze, about a quarter into the sundae, and saw Danny still eating. "Good ice cream."

"Told ya." Danny stuck his spoon into the half-eaten sundae. "So… Yesterday… Why do you want me to take your Dawn Stone?"

"I told you. It's useless for me."

"But you could still catch a ralts," Danny said. "It's not like they're only on Izabe. Maybe we'll find a ralts Egg, like bagon's."

Max shifted uncomfortably on the bench. "About that…" Danny looked at him weirdly. "I was offered a ralts Egg yesterday."

That seemed to freeze Danny's brain, and it took his friend four tries to say something. "Wha… _Why_ didn't you take it?" He pushed his sundae aside. "Did ralts's mother just take that Egg with her from Izabe? I thought Pokémon were protective of their Eggs. Uncle complains about that a ton."

"She didn't. I went to Izabe." Hadn't he told Danny that? He thought back to lunch, the day before. He'd told Danny he'd gone out, but not the location. He lowered his voice. "Talked about Ash's theory that there's another machine, played with a couple of ralts, then got offered an Egg."

"Which. You. Turned. Down." Danny punctuated each word with the tap of a finger, looking like he still couldn't believe it. "Why did you do that?"

"It would be _a_ ralts, but not _my_ ralts," Max echoed his words of the day before. "Yes, I'm an idiot," he added quickly.

Danny rolled his eyes when Max pre-empted him. "Yes you are." He shook his head from side to side, as if to clear his thoughts. "Not sure I understand you, but your journey, your Pokémon."

Max smiled, and went back to his sundae, but when he didn't hear a second spoon clinking against the glass, he looked back up. Danny was staring at Max, the look on his face suggesting he was trying to figure something out. "What is it?"

"Was that why you were so… happy? The playing with ralts?"

"Kind of?" He ate a spoonful of sundae as he thought about his next words. "It was a big part, but the entire clearing was just… Indescribable, and ralts's mother also helped me with a few things." He shook his head fondly. "It was amazing."

"I'll say. I was all prepared for mopey Max, and I got my best friend," Danny said, grabbing his spoon again. "I know, I know, you had reason to be mopey."

"Doesn't mean you like it," Max finished.

"Exactly!" They shared a quick laugh at knowing each other so well, before both returned to their sundaes.

For the next few minutes, the table was silent except for the sounds of two pre-teens eating ice cream. When Danny finished – with Max still scooping out the bottom of his glass – he took his Pokénav. "So… Mead Town is… there, and Kingship is… there." He slid the Pokénav across the table. "Go check."

Max did so as he finished his own sundae. "Wow, Kingship's in the middle of nowhere. No wonder we skipped that." It was a ways off from the regular route 109, located in the ocean about seventy or eighty miles south-east of Slateport, and at least forty miles off the Abandoned Ship Max had vague memories of visiting. "And Mead Town is… Ah, off route 123."

"I kinda want to go to Mead Town, just to see Mt. Pyre."

"We already did that in April," Max retorted.

"From miles and miles away, through binoculars!" Danny countered, and Max had to agree with that. "Not the same." He sighed. "I suppose you don't want to go to Mt. Pyre. Because ralts and bad memories and stuff."

"You already lost a Pokémon?" the man who'd served them interjected as he scooped in, lifting the glasses from the table. "How?"

"Poachers," was Max's one word answer. Not completely true, but explaining all of it wasn't the best idea.

"Ah." The man cast a look around, and when he didn't see anyone waiting, he placed the glasses on the table and pulled up a chair. "You should go there. Just for closure, if nothing else. It'll help you get over it."

"But you don't—"

"I do," said the man, gently but firmly interrupting Max. "When I was fourteen, I was caught in an avalanche in Kanto's Rock Tunnel. I got out, but my butterfree..." He moved a finger across his throat, not that it was really needed. "Bugs and rocks don't mix, let's just say that. Anyway, I go there every other year, just to remember her, and my family's old houndoom." A smile came over the owner's face. "Great old lump of Pokémon. Canine Pokémon are great like that, always playful and loyal. Like that manectric."

"Yeah, they are," Danny said, and Max nodded in agreement. He hadn't ever met a canine Pokémon who wasn't like that. "It's a mountain, right? Can you even climb Mt. Pyre?"

"There's tons of Ghosts on there, people say." The proprietor shrugged. "Probably a 'do it at your own risk' thing." A jingle announced people entering, and he rose to his feet, taking both empty glasses in hand in one fluid motion. "Think about it, okay?" he said, before walking off and serving the group of four that had just entered.

For their part, Max and Danny left, both of them giving the owner a friendly wave when he was looking, and out they went, onto the paved Mauville streets, towards the Center. Manectric bounded around them, still energetic as anything, and Max couldn't help but grin at her antics. "Silly girl."

"Almost feels like she heard what we were talking about."

"Yeah."

"So. Mead or Kingship?"

Max shrugged. "Don't care. Let's go to Mead. See something of Hoenn."

"And Mt. Pyre?"

Max grimaced. "Ask me when we get there."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Drake watched dispassionately as his altaria rolled over Ash's speedy swellow. A close miss, but still a miss. "Cotton Guard."

The altaria let out a shrill cry, fluffing up and manipulating the cotton around his lower body and wings so that it protected the entirety of his body now, with only the head unprotected. Defences now taken care of, Drake glanced overhead – the swellow was still far off – and whistled through his teeth, telling his altaria to move in closer. At this range, nothing would hit.

Then, he saw his human opponent put his hands over his ears, and Drake hastily followed suit. He'd learnt to track those gestures – a necessity when there were no shielding Pokémon available – early on during Ash's training. Ash's Pokémon frequently got loud and flashy, and Drake also had a good idea of what was coming in the first place. "Light Screen!"

The Boomburst tore through the sky, distorting a cone of air, centred on the swellow's beak. It wasn't a new attack; one of Drake's noiverns had helped swellow to learn it, but the swellow moving while using it was new. As was the blue glow surrounding the swellow. Drake nodded. A combination attack with two powerful moves. Excellent.

The powerful attack cut right through the Light Screen without being hindered a lot, but the cotton, though a good amount of it was blown away or out of position, stayed intact enough to muffle the impact of swellow's Brave Bird. Altaria, and swellow too, dropped several dozen feet as they tried to regain control over their flight, but when they did, swellow had bits and pieces of cotton stuck to his feathers and beak.

Drake signalled for a time-out, and both he and Ash called for their Pokémon to come down. Up close, the Dragon Master saw that his altaria was beat up, probably barely able to fight after the extended aerial dogfight with a faster opponent and the last move. He looked over at Ash, who was removing all the cotton from his flyer. "An impressive showing, Ash. Against any other Pokémon, this would have been a knock-out."

Ash finished his job, and swellow gave a tired, but grateful, chirp. "Why didn't the Boomburst remove Cotton Guard fully? I thought moving while using Boomburst would do that."

"Physics, Ash. Again." Indeed, it was the second time Ash had tried to use Boomburst to disrupt Cotton Guard. The first had been ineffective, but this had been close to full success. "The waves of sound are closer together due to the Doppler effect, but they are still harmonious, and thus predictable. That is why the Cotton Guard held." Barely.

"So close," Ash lamented. "Your altaria is tough."

Drake let out a booming laugh. "My boy, the only reason Cotton Guard held is because the Boomburst started just far enough away that altaria could throw up a Light Screen. Even so, it disrupted it to the point of your swellow nearly taking altaria out." The Elite Four trainer saw the swellow sit up a little straighter at that. "Not two months ago, altaria trounced swellow. Handily. You've come a long way with him."

"So that means..."

Drake smiled, revelling in the hopeful look on his protégé's face. "It's time to start the full battle training." A pause fell as Ash whooped in joy. "I have full faith that you'll be able to give me a good run for my money. After all, your strength lies in the heat of battle, and not the training."

Swellow and altaria returned to their Pokéballs, and Ash made to step on the plank to Drake's boat when the older man whistled once, catching the teen's attention. "Yeah?"

"Try incorporating more movement than just a straight line into that Boomburst trick. It adds unpredictability for your opponent."

 **~~§~~§~~**

There was a knock on the door, and Professor Birch looked up to see his assistant standing in the doorway. "Professor? Call for you."

"Just a moment." Birch cast a sceptical eye over the initial sketch of the linoone burrow, and found it good enough for now. "Can you put it through?"

One affirmative answer and a minute later, Birch found himself facing the elder of the Maple siblings. They shared some small talk – most of it about May's Pokémon currently in residence: her skitty and her vaporeon – before May broached a new subject. "Professor? I saw the interview with Roxanne today. Is it true?"

"Is what true?" the Professor replied. "She made a few claims; you'll have to be more specific."

"That Ghosts, Psychics, and Dark-types cause all those injuries?"May clarified.

"That's undeniably true. The exact number fluctuates, but it's been between 35 % and 40 % of the total for the last five years." Birch grinned guilelessly. "I asked for the data Roxanne had used. Her facts are accurate."

The girl sitting in front of the videophone in a Pokémon Center somewhere looked uncertain. "Are they… dangerous?"

"Nearly all Pokémon are dangerous, May. You know that." When he saw May about to protest, Birch spoke up again, even as his right hand opened a drawer near his knee. "Wild or caught, blaziken can still burn you to a crisp, or vaporeon can freeze you solid."

"They'd never do that!"

Birch nodded in agreement. "They wouldn't. But they can." He pulled out a thin binder from the drawer. "But deliberate injuries are very, _very,_ rare. Most injuries inflicted by Pokémon are reported as accidents." He opened the binder, quickly finding the right column. "One in four hundred and seventy injuries are reported as deliberate, and a good number of those are justifiable by trainers mistreating their Pokémon."

"Even for..."

"Even for them," Birch confirmed as he put the binder away again. Outside, he heard the patter of some four-legged Pokémon. Probably mightyena. "Why the questions? It's not like you."

May smiled. "It's more something Max'd want to know, right?" she said, and the senior Hoenn Professor couldn't find it in him to disagree. "I was offered a trade today. Munchlax for a Unovan Pokémon. Gotharita?"

"Gothorita," Birch corrected instantly. He'd had to spell that one too many times. "Psychic type, mostly nocturnal, lives primarily in forested areas. Rare, but most Psychic-types are rare. Good with illusions. It'd be a great Contest Pokémon."

"But what if I get injured while training it?"

"That's the risk you run as a trainer." Then, realising his words were harsh, Birch added, "But if you're not sure, then you shouldn't do it."

"That's what Drew said."

It took Birch a moment to realise who she was referring to. "Well, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders." He paused for a bit, trying to put what he wanted to say into words. "Not every trainer likes every kind of Pokémon equally, May. Sometimes, they like certain types of Pokémon."

"Like Dad?"

"Your father is a Normal-type Gym Leader. It'd be strange if he didn't like them." Not to mention practically impossible, considering Gym Leaders were selected in part due to how well they worked with their respective type. "But it can also be the opposite. You can just not like some types, and that's perfectly fine."

"Really?"

"Really. I know for a fact that at least one Kanto Gym Leader does _not_ like Bug Pokémon, and you know her too."

May's eyes widened, not really in surprise. Realisation, Birch decided. "Of course. Misty!"

The Professor nodded. "Exactly." They shared a smile, before Birch noticed the time in the corner of the screen. Thirty minutes until someone was coming over. "Look, May. Training Psychic-types, and Dark, and Ghost-types to a lesser extent, isn't for everyone. There are hordes of trainers who don't have any of them. They are – and Roxanne is definitely right about this – among the harder Pokémon to train. Like Dragons." Hm, perhaps the number of injuries and the general difficulty of training an average Pokémon of a certain type were correlated. Something to check. "And if you're even a tiny bit unsure, don't do the trade. I know you joke about munchlax eating you dry, but I also know you care deeply for him."

That caused May to smile wistfully. "Yeah… Thanks Professor. You helped me a lot!"

"That's what I'm for. Now, do you want some other Pokémon?"

"Sure. Can you go get my vaporeon?"

"Give me five minutes."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

" _Why the Dark-type? I thought they were wicked cool when I was thirteen. That hasn't changed. Yeah, yeah, bad reputation because evil teams like to use them. Do I really need to point at Team Magma and Aqua? It's not the Pokémon's type that's important, it's how they're used. The Dark is good at sneaky offensives, quick knockouts, hiding, disrupting the opponent. Every battle is a dance, and your goal is to make the opponent stumble over their own feet. Then, you pounce."_

– Sidney of the Hoenn Elite Four

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And that is seven, and apparently, my bunch of Gym Leaders are incorrigible gossips. Then again, it's the son of one of their colleagues, and Gym Leader kids are probably quite rare as well, given that there's only 18 (or 19 because Tate & Liza) Leaders at a time.


	16. Chapter 16: Expansion

**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Expansion**

Several days after leaving Mauville, the two trainers found themselves skirting around and in their second Pokémon Ranger protected territory, off of the south-western edge of Route 123. This one was a Bug-type sanctuary, and while trainers were free to enter, capturing Pokémon inside the borders wasn't allowed, much to Danny's vocal and repeated displeasure.

"Ow, man… Look at the surskit and masquerain," Danny said, and Max followed his gaze to a nearby pond, where a small group of those Pokémon were skittering and flying on and over the water. They were currently inside the sanctuary's territory, according to the signs they'd seen half an hour back."This sucks."

"Denied again," Max said. They'd found a masquerain the day before, but that one had turned out to belong to a trainer already. "You've got some serious bad luck."

"Maybe third time's the charm?" Danny said, sounding hopeful. "C'mon. I want to get to the Center before sunset."

Max turned along with Danny and began walking. "Good idea." A long shower sounded really nice right about no…

Loud, shrill, pained cries from behind them interrupted Max's thoughts. As one, the boys turned around, seeing a man cast a large net over the water with the help of a cradily.

There was no thinking involved. "Hey!" Max shouted at the man as he ran up to the pond's edge, quickly crossing the distance. "Stop that!" He grabbed a Pokéball, and released the Pokémon within.

Bagon immediately blocked an Energy Ball sent straight at Max with little issue. The dragon roared a challenge, and spat a Dragon Rage at the cradily, which blocked it with another Energy Ball. Behind the former fossil, the man released a second Pokémon: a quilava that spat a quick ball of flame at bagon.

"Bagon, Dragon Pulse! Poliwag, Water Gun!" Max ordered as he released two more Pokémon in quick succession. "Baltoy, block attacks sent my way," he added to the small Pokémon as he took a few steps to the side, trying to put himself between the poacher and the pond.

Both Pokémon aimed their attacks at the quilava, but while the Dragon Pulse did nearly hit it, the quilava having rolled out of the way at the last second, the Water Gun did something strange. It veered off course, splashing on the cradily, which had been close by. "What the..." Max said. "Bubble!"

Quilava rolled in, not on fire, but with plenty of speed, aiming for bagon. Max's quick order for poliwag stopped the Rollout from connecting, though, as quilava avoided the Water-type attack religiously. "Get the poliwag. Solar Beam!"

"Rain Dance!" Max countered as he felt the ground underneath his feet become less solid, and more muddy. A quick look down revealed that he was close to the water's edge, between the net and the man.

Poliwag sent up a blue sphere that immediately blocked the overhead early-evening sun. Instead, she created a small rain shower, and Max saw the quilava struggle to gather enough sunlight to fully form the Solar Beam. As did the poacher, who didn't have the patience to wait for the Grass-type attack. "Swift!"

Small yellow stars shot towards poliwag and Max, but the nimble tadpole avoided most of them with careful jumps, and baltoy's Light Screen diminished the ones that came through to Max enough that he felt the attack, but nothing more. Like a swat on the legs. Behind him, he heard Danny talk softly to the trapped Pokémon, and the snip of scissors told Max was his friend was doing.

A cry of pain from Max's right jerked his attention to the bagon, who'd been left to fight the cradily. Max winced: in trying to make sure poliwag didn't get knocked out, he'd ignored bagon, and the young Dragon-type wasn't exactly the best at battling on his own. Somehow, the fossil had managed to constrict bagon in its face tentacles, who wasn't liking that one bit. He thrashed, but his arms were too short to remove the tentacles from his face. "Dragon Pulse. Give it all!" Max yelled, even as he heard steam sizzle to his left.

A small explosion occurred right next to cradily's face. Bagon was sent flying back, tumbling through the air, but it landed in the soft mud, getting up nearly immediately. The cradily wasn't as lucky. "Great bagon. More Dragon Pulses!"

The quilava tried to help its partner, but poliwag kept it occupied with alternating Water Guns, Water Pulses, and Bubbles, forcing the quilava to roll, jump, and sprint away from wherever the Tadpole Pokémon was aiming. Luckily, the weird redirection wasn't happening any longer.

The cradily slumped into the grass with a wet squelch after bagon's barrage was over, and the quilava was looking worse for the wear as well, panting visibly and looking somewhat drenched. It rolled back, going into a Rollout again, and Max started to give poliwag the order to defend herself when a net covered her. An electrified net.

The poliwag wailed in pain as the electricity ran through her body, looking for the path of least resistance. Max glanced at the poacher, who was watching with a wide, almost crazy, grin on his face. But he wasn't watching the poliwag, he was watching the…

An almighty roar suddenly filled the area, and Max noticed its source from the fierce light in the corner of his eye, even as he turned towards it. A large symbol – easily Max's size – of fire was rushing towards him from the direction of the quilava.

Max dropped to the ground.

The Light Screen shattered. Shouting behind him.

Heat soared over him, blistering, dry. Flames licked at his knuckles and arms.

Something fell to the ground in front of him.

Max opened his eyes – when had he closed them? - and saw bagon and baltoy lying on the ground. Smoke wafted off of them in irregular plumes, and the bagon grunted in pain.

Then his eyes opened, and his right eye met Max's gaze.

 _Rage._

Max and bagon got up at the same time, the latter launching himself forward as his trainer shouted loud, raw, ferocious orders.

A Flamethrower splashed on the bagon. The dragon parted the stream.

A smokescreen was attempted. The bagon closed the distance and butted his head into the quilava's. A flint of white shot away.

Another Headbutt. A squeal. A roar that suddenly died out.

Red energy. A small explosion right in front of Max. Smoke obscuring vision.

Coughing. A thud. A cry of pain.

Smoke dissipated. A man on ice, cradling his elbow. A snorunt at his feet.

A hand on Max's shoulder. A soft, friendly, trembling voice. "Max?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah." His legs suddenly felt wobbly, and he landed in the wet mud. The rain stopped. "Maybe not."

A nervous chuckle. "Bagon and baltoy..."

"Saved me." No other word for it. Max lifted his arm, returning the bagon and immediately releasing him again. "Whoa."

Bagon's belly was black and red with soot and inflamed skin. His eyes were closed in unconsciousness, but he still breathed, shallow but regular. His nose was also discoloured, but that didn't look like fire damage. Baltoy was just black from soot, and unconscious as well.

A whimper of pain reminded Max that the poacher was still there, cradling his arm. "Shut up, bastard!"

"Called the Rangers. They'll be here in five." Danny sat down beside Max, and the younger boy saw the relief on his friend's face, clear as day, but a frown overtook that soon. "Your arms."

Max lifted his arms. They were red, raw, almost blistered. Didn't hurt too much, for some reason. Nor did his knuckles and fingers, which actually were blistered. "If that's all..."

Poliwag chose that moment to cry out from within the net, and Danny got up, releasing the Pokémon from the no longer electrified net. The tadpole immediately bounced over to Max, pressing her back against Max's right hand. It felt painfully nice. Danny sat down opposite him as she did so.

The two stayed there in silence until powerful flapping overhead made them look up. They saw two Flying-types, both carrying people, start to descend in a circling glide. Danny stood up, and helped Max get up as well. Luckily, his legs weren't as wobbly as they'd been previous.

"Danny Birch?" said one of the Rangers, a grey-haired, moustached, imposing man as he dismounted his pidgeot. Beside him, another Ranger dismounted her pidgeot, immediately leaving her partner behind. "Tell me what happened here."

Max heard Danny take a deep breath. "We were on the road and heard Pokémon cry in pain. A poacher – that guy – had thrown a net over a group of surskit and masquerain. Max here fought the poacher, I freed the Pokémon from their net."

"I take it you won," the Ranger addressed Max, glancing around, his gaze lingering on the baltoy and bagon near between him and the boys. "Are you and your Pokémon in need of medical assistance?"

"Yes," Danny cut across. "The poacher's quilava tried to Fire Blast Max. Baltoy and bagon had to block it, and even then it did this." He grabbed Max's left arm, holding it out for the Ranger to see.

The Ranger approached, his steps squelching in the mud poliwag's Rain Dance had caused, and studied the arm. "Must've been some Fire Blast, to overcome two Pokémon and still do this," he commented.

"The Blaze ability might have been a factor, sir," the other Ranger interjected in a clear, but deferential, voice, approaching from where the poacher sat. She looked barely twenty, with brown hair in a long ponytail. "Most Fire-type starter families have..."

"Yes, I know. What can you tell me about the man?"

"It's not somebody in our databases. He refuses to give his name up, but we found only two Pokéballs on him. He also took a nasty knock to his elbow, which looks broken." She walked off after receiving a nod, heading around the pond.

"I ordered my snorunt to Ice Beam behind him," Danny said. "Cut off the escape path and make him trip. I didn't mean to..."

"Easy lad. You're not in trouble for that." The man smiled, his moustache tilting up. "Smart thinking, though. This isn't your first time facing poachers, is it?"

"It's his. Not mine," Max spoke up, finally remembering to return baltoy and bagon. "What's going to happen to him?"

The elder Ranger raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by something. "Prison. The sentence for trying to poach in a Ranger Park is fairly steep, and the Fire Blast that knocked out your bagon and baltoy, and injured you, is only going to add to that."

"It didn't knock out bagon," Danny corrected. "I saw it from the other side of the pond. Bagon went down, but it got up, and then beat the quilava up." Then, to Max. "What happened there? You were both down, and then you're both up, yelling, screaming…"

Max shrugged. "Dunno. Heat of the moment." It wasn't until Danny groaned that he realised what he'd done. "Bagon looked… angry."

"Enraged, you mean?" the Ranger asked, to which Max nodded. That fit a lot better. "You're lucky it fainted. A dragon's rage is difficult to stop." He looked at them, obviously thinking of something. "Then again, you look like you'd have a plan for that."

"Max has a clefairy," Danny offered.

"That'd do it. So, you said one Pokémon was a quilava. The other was..."

"Cradily. Got its tentacles and head on bagon's face, and bagon Dragon Pulsed it off."

"Impressive work." Squelches announced the reappearance of the other Ranger. "Found anything?"

"Two things, sir. A skinning set in the undergrowth over there, and this." She held up something white. "It looks like part of a Pokémon tooth, but I do not recall Pokémon with teeth this big living here."

"That's the quilava's, I think," Max offered. He had seen something white fly off, right? "From when bagon beat it up."

The male Ranger whistled appreciatively. "Must've been some attack."

"Just a Headbutt. I think."

"The point stands." He looked around, before checking a watch on his wrist. "Jackie, why don't you escort these lads to the Pokémon Center? I'll call and wait for Officer Jenny."

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't forget to explain about the investigation, and tell Nurse Joy to document the injuries."

"Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed."

Was it Max's imagination or did the man smirk when his partner saluted?

The boys made to leave: Danny returning his snorunt as the Ranger sent out a fierce-looking houndoom to guard the poacher. Max wanted to return his poliwag, but the Water-type dodged the beam before gently spraying a mist of water on Max's other arm. The cold felt great on his arm, and he decided to not return the poliwag after all.

They were about twenty feet away from where they'd first seen the poacher when, suddenly, Max saw something land on Danny's pack. "Hey!" Danny said as he struggled with the sudden added weight. He didn't fall down, but it was close. A masquerain had landed on his pack, sitting stock-still, even when Danny put the pack down. "What do you want?" Danny asked kindly. "You're free to go to your family now. The poacher is gone."

In response, the masquerain took flight, buzzing around the group before settling, carefully, on Danny's left shoulder, making Max's friend look weird as he tried to glance at the passenger. "Do you want to come with him?" Max asked.

The answering cry was very clearly 'yes'.

"We're not allowed to do that," Danny explained as he held out an arm, like Ash had done for taillow way back. Masquerain perched on it. "These Rangers say we can't. You have to go, okay?"

"Actually, it's okay lad." Max nearly jumped as the gravelly voice of the older Ranger came from behind him. "Rules are rules, but exceptions are there to confirm the rules. If a Pokémon clearly wants to join you, and a Ranger can see that, then there is no issue. Did you understand that, Ranger Hill?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Now, capture it and go. Sunset is in fifty minutes, and the Pokémon Center is a mile away. You'll be reunited soon enough."

Danny obliged, gently touching one of his empty capsules to the bug's body. The ball vanished, but Danny's grin was enormous, and his good mood lasted all the way until the Center.

"Ranger Hill. I heard you were bringing in wounded?" a Nurse Joy greeted the party just outside the Pokémon Center. "What do you need done?"

"Regulations say witnesses need to give testimony, and pictures need to be taken of any injuries sustained under the Pokémon's assault," Hill recited easily.

Nurse Joy nodded happily. "Excellent answer. Can I trust you to take the pictures?"

"Of course. You can count on me!"

"I think we'll leave the testimony for tomorrow." Max saw the Ranger about to protest, but the healer shushed her with a shake of her head. "These boys need rest. The left one looks nearly dead on his feet, and the painkillers aren't going to help with that."

It took Max a moment to realise he was the leftmost boy. He grinned sheepishly, belatedly. He did feel pretty bad.

"Right. In you go. Let's get you patched up."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"Hey Danny."

"Hi Ash," Danny said, speaking normally in the abandoned lobby of the Center. It'd been an hour and a half since they'd walked in, and he was dead tired, but he needed to talk to Ash. "Hope I didn't wake you."

He heard laughter. "I don't go to bed that early. What's up."

"We ran into a poacher today, and he…" Danny swallowed, still uncomfortable with that. "He ordered his Pokémon to attack Max. Fire Blast, possibly with Blaze." Danny agreed with Ranger Hill's guess. He'd seen the symbol, and it was too big for a normal quilava. Thankfully, the Blaze seemed to have stopped when bagon was going in.

A sharp intake of breath was mangled by the Pokénav's speakers. "Is Max okay?"

"Burns on his arms and knuckles. Baltoy and bagon..."

"Blocked it," Ash finished. "You're in a Center now, aren't you?"

"How do you know?"

"A good guess. Max is asleep?"

"You're used to this?"

He heard Ash chuckle, and the pikachu that was probably sitting on his shoulder did the same. "I lost count of how many times I was ushered off to bed like that somewhere in Johto. I still don't know what painkillers they stock, but they're amazing at making you feel sleepy."

"Oh."

"What's on your mind?"

"I just…" Danny interrupted himself. He didn't just want to talk. He had a question. "Did this happen often with you?"

"What did? Injuries? Poachers?"

"Both, I guess."

"If you don't count Team Rocket… A few poachers, I guess. Two of them way worse than the rest." From the way Danny heard Ash mutter the last bit, he suspected that meant legendary-grade danger. Ash had talked a bit about meeting more legendaries than just the ones he met with Max.

"Oh?"

"And injuries…" Ash ignored Danny's question. "Counting Team Rocket, our first aid kit was very busy, and all of us got pretty good at using it. Max got injured the least, but he was always sneaking around them, trying to help us the best he could. You know, for not having a Pokémon."

"Okay, so… This is normal for Max?"

"Sorta?" Danny could nearly see Ash shrug. "Burns aren't something Max ever got, but May and I did. Comes with training a Fire-type. It'll heal, and maybe it'll leave a cool scar."

"Oh, okay."

"So, while you're here. Tell me what happened?" Danny obliged, giving Ash a quick summary of what had happened and what he and Max had done respectively, up to the point of the Rangers arriving on their pidgeots. "You did a great job. Both of you," Ash complimented once Danny was done.

"Max did all the battling—"

"And you freed the Pokémon, and made sure he couldn't escape," Ash interrupted. "That's important. It's good teamwork, and good on you to think of that."

"Everyone would do that." Danny was certain of it. It just seemed like the logical thing.

"Nope," Ash cheerfully informed him, and Danny's eyes widened in surprise. "Especially making sure he couldn't escape. We always forgot that. Team Rocket got away so many times..."

"Huh. So..."

"You did a good thing, even if you didn't beat the poacher's Pokémon. Not all battles are won on the battlefield, you know." There was a shout in the background. "Time to go. Drake wants a night battle. See ya!"

"Good luck!"

 **~~§~~§~~**

Lance, Champion of the shared Kanto-Johto Elite Four, paced just off-stage in a Viridian City hall. He'd been a Champion for seven years, a Master-tier trainer for at least twelve, and he was still not used to press conferences. Or, he amended silently, he was to regular ones. Not this one, which was more of a presentation than a press conference. He nodded to himself. That was probably it.

A door opened behind him, revealing his fellow Champions: Wallace of Hoenn and Cynthia of Sinnoh. Neither of them looked nervous in the slightest. "All are here, Lance. Are you ready?" said the Sinnoh Champion, clad in her customary black coat.

"Remind me why I agreed to this?" Lance half-lamented.

"Because a new competition demands a new presentation, a new _élan!_ " Wallace replied. "And as it was your idea, it is only fitting for you to be the host." The Water Master's face twitched with ill-disguised mirth. "Come, Lance. Your audience awaits."

The three Champions walked out onto a small stage, to light applause and furious picture-taking. Thankfully, the theatre they had rented for this was well-lit, else Lance would probably have been blinded by the flashes. He let them take pictures, enduring the media circus he'd been living in for years, before gesturing for silence. He got it nearly immediately, and he took a last deep breath before launching into his talk. "Fellow trainers, esteemed members of the press, honoured politicians, I am pleased to see you all gathered here today as we start a new era of inter-region cooperation." Light applause filled the auditorium once more. "Today, we unveil the Champion's League."

Right on cue, the screen behind him lit up, and Lance stepped aside so that he could face both screen and audience. "For years, the individual Pokémon Leagues have been the pinnacle of organised trainer battling. Winning one grants one benefits, such as the right to challenge a chosen Elite Four and its Champion, but those matches are far and few between. In the last five years, only one trainer made it to me, and frankly, it's probably that boredom that spawned this idea." He heard a chuckle or two, which had been the point of putting that in.

"The Champion's League will feature the winners and the runners-up of the last leagues in a certain timespan, usually one year, or six leagues." The screen lit up with the ten pictures of those eligible, as well as two question mark pictures. "They'll be divided into two groups, where they'll battle it out in a full battle round robin schedule, vying for position. The places everyone wants are the top two in each group, for those provide access to the semi final, and, for two of them, the final."

"The winner gains eternal glory, a sizeable amount of money, and a guaranteed shot to challenge a single Champion of their choosing, irrespective of their other challenge rights." The Dragon Master paused as all the rights of the winner appeared on the projection. He saw furious scribbling going on from the area where the press sat, and intrigued looks on the trainers in the audience. One trainer in particular – the recent Johto champion – was especially surprised.

"Now, I guess you'll all want to know where and when this will take place. I'll answer the when first. The inaugural Champion's League will take place this coming March, at the Indigo Plateau, and it will take place in March every year thereafter. However, its location is not set, for the year after next, it will take place in Sinnoh, on Lily of the Valley island. The location will then cycle to Johto, Hoenn, and then back to Kanto again." That got the politicians nodding, Lance noted, as he had hoped. A set location had been removed from consideration early in the planning process for that exact reason.

"Lastly, astute observers likely noticed two question mark blocks in our participants earlier. This is because the actual cut-off date for entry into the tournament falls with the October tournament. This means that the upcoming Indigo League winner, and the runner up, are eligible to enter this tournament, but the next Ever Grande Conference champion has to wait until the next iteration in Sinnoh."

Inwardly, Lance let out a sigh of relief. Just the questions left now. "We will now take questions. Though I held this talk, Cynthia and Wallace were instrumental in designing the tournament, so please do not forget them."

The questions had to wait for a round of thunderous applause that lasted a minute or two.

The first question came from the press area. "Will this be broadcast?"

"Of course it will," Wallace replied, stepping forward on the stage. "These skilled trainers deserve a podium to display their prowess for more than just the audience. We've negotiated a contract with the regular broadcasters, who'll be covering the spectacle with their usual meticulous detail."

"What about other nations, like Kalos or Unova?"

Lance shook his head. "The League, for now, is for the Home Regions only, as a matter of geographical proximity. Perhaps we will expand later, once Unova's insurgency has been resolved." And damn Alder for vehemently rebuffing G-men help. Dialga above the man was unfit, but Unova's Champion rules were unyielding: only death or defeat could dislodge Alder from his position.

"And Unovan trainers?" came an unsolicited shout from where the trainers sat, and Lance needed no vision of the speaker to identify her. It was the newest Kanto champion, a Unovan trainer in her early twenties.

"They are eligible to join," Cynthia calmly answered her. "As are Kalosian trainers. Just like a normal League, any trainer of any gender or nationality can enter, if they meet the entrance requirements." The Sinnoh Champion smiled disarmingly. "Don't worry, Ms. Peterson. It'd be a shame if the only woman to win a League in the last year would be excluded."

On and on the questions went. What about trainers declining their invitation? The numbers three and possibly four of the same tournament would be extended an invitation. What about ticket sales? They'd be up in January. Would something similar be organised for Pokémon Contests? Wallace said he'd raise the idea. Did all of the eligible trainers accept their invitations? They'd been informed of their eligibility a few days prior, and all but one had accepted already.

Eventually, the questions were all spent, and Lance stepped forward once more. "I'd like to thank all of you for your presence, and I hope to see all of you this coming month at the Indigo League, or in March at the Champion's League."

Ten minutes later, the three Champions sat in comfortable chairs in a lobby. Pokémon League employees and interns bustled around them, but except for supplying drinks, they did not disturb the powerful trio of trainers.

"For someone professing his dislike of public speaking at every turn, you are quite good at it," Cynthia said from over her glass of some juice. "A little dry, perhaps, but that's personal taste."

"I would still have preferred the simple press release over this." Lance turned his eyes on an amused-looking Wallace after taking a sip of his water. "However I let you talk me into this, I still do not understand."

"Your understanding that the art of presentation is something I, as a Contest Master, am likely to know a fair amount about was presumably a factor," Wallace said as he raised his glass in a toast. "To a successful tournament."

The three drank deeply and sat in silence for a minute before Cynthia broke the silence. "Any news about..."

"No, none," Wallace answered, his jovial manner suddenly gone. "Phoebe has been working around the clock, trying to find traces, but she found naught." He turned to Lance. "We'd appreciate some more G-men help."

"We're still trying to understand how Archie made his escape," Lance replied truthfully. This chat was the first time in two weeks in which his time hadn't been taken up by trying to unravel that mystery or Champion duties. "And how none of it appeared on our radar until Wattson led his raid of New Mauville."

Cynthia frowned. "Do you suspect leaks?"

"Always. The problem is: where is it located? And who is it?" Being on the side that was infiltrated was thoroughly vexing. "There's only about a dozen people I trust unconditionally to not be involved, and nearly half of them are far too junior to even have access to the information of where Archie was held.

"Forgive me my whimsical musings, Lance, but is there a possibility of your problem and my problem being intertwined?" Wallace asked.

Lance weighed the situation in his mind. "Could be, but unlikely. Too diffuse, no obvious motive. I'll talk it over with the others, but I doubt anything will come from it."

"Very well. I await your correspondence with my Gym Leaders."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

Pokébet _uses several tiers to roughly denote a trainer's skill. These tiers should not be seen as absolutes, especially when it comes to lesser-known trainers, but they've proven to be decent predictors._

 _The tiers, from lowest to highest, are:_

 **R – Rookie  
I – Intermediate  
E – Expert  
A – Ace  
M – Master**

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Don't mess with bagon, and get out of the way if you happen to enrage him. Quilava didn't. Oops, as they say.

Obviously, no relation exists between my invented League and the European football (soccer) league. Given it's always the Pokémon League or the Indigo/Silver (etc etc) League, I feel it'd be in character for the regional Champions to keep the naming theme alive.


	17. Chapter 17: History

****Disclaimer:**** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 17: History**

Mt. Pyre, Danny thought as they stepped off an old and shaky boat, operated by an old, nearly toothless, ferryman and his dusknoir, didn't look all that impressive up close. In fact, it looked like New Mauville's entrance, all concrete and iron leading into a cave. A chilly wind blew in from the east, cutting through Danny's T-shirt.

As if that'd stop him from going up Mt. Pyre as far as he could. He could deal with cold.

There was something in the air, and Danny felt it all the better as they walked up to the entrance. Their footsteps were loud, and he felt shivers run up his spine; shivers that had nothing to do with the weather. He put a hand on the door sheltering Mt. Pyre from the outside, and, after taking one look at Max, pushed it open. The door resisted his push for a second; solid metal creaking on the hinges.

Rows on rows on rows of gravestones and cabinets greeted them. He'd never seen so many of them in one place before. A single, solitary, stone spire – obelisk, Danny remembered from school – stood right in front of the entrance, a plate – plaque? - raised in front of it.

 _Here rest the spirits of the dead, Pokémon and human alike._

There was a second, smaller, inscription underneath the first.

 _War or peace, healthy or ill, rich or poor, young or old, remembered or forgotten, death comes for all, and in it, we are all equal._

They said nothing as they moved into the cave proper, footsteps echoing as they slowly passed uncountable gravestones. Danny glanced at some of them out of curiosity, seeing graves of both human and Pokémon, just as the inscription had said. Some gravestones were ornate and detailed, others were sparse to the point of a single word – usually a Pokémon – and sometimes, it was a double grave of Pokémon and trainer.

"Damn," Danny heard Max whisper, and when he turned to look, he found Max reading a gravestone, kneeling because the stone was small. Danny stepped around him to do the same. "Twelve. Died protecting someone."

Danny read the inscription, dated about ninety years back. "Wasn't that during.."

"Some war? Yeah." Max rose and continued on, down the path, and Danny hurried to follow. "Just… Puts stuff in perspective."

"Guess it does…."

The second underground chamber was dimly lit, reminding Danny of a haunted house at a fair, only less deliberately scary. Most of the light came from a flame in the centre of the chamber, set in the slightly raised floor. A man, wearing all-white, knelt in front of it, muttering something that sounded like a prayer. It wasn't anything Danny had ever heard, nor did he think it was in any language spoken in Hoenn.

The man turned his head when Danny and Max came close enough. "Visitors to our memorial, welcome," he said as he rose up, revealing that he wasn't all that much taller than Danny was. "You are young to be here. So young..."

The man fixed his gaze on Danny, who found he couldn't look away from the piercing, too-blue, gaze. He was trapped, but the man broke eye contact himself only a few seconds later, to Danny's relief. "No. Not you. You, then?" Now Max stood transfixed, and if either of them blinked, Danny didn't see it. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know," Max said softly.

"Do you?" the man replied equally softly. "Are your heart and tongue in accord? Traitorous is the tongue that speaks untruths, and traitorous is the mind that closes itself to the heart." He stepped aside, an inviting hand held out. "Come, young one. Gaze, and perhaps the truth will out."

This man was giving Danny the creeps.

"No thanks."

"Are you so certain of yourself?" When Max didn't reply, instead settling for another round of eye contact – how did Max keep that up willingly? - the man nodded, closing his eyes for some reason. "For better or worse, you are, and only time can tell whether this is youth's folly, or wisdom's certainty."

The man left, through a side-door Danny hadn't even noticed, without another word. A chill settled in the air as the door was closed, and the fire looked dimmer than it had a moment before. A brief moment of eye contact was all that was needed to communicate, and the boys left the room through the main exit. "That was so creepy!" Danny exclaimed.

"Yeah," his friend agreed softly. "He—"

The sound of footsteps interrupted them, and they turned around in the direction the footsteps were coming from, off to their left. They saw an older man – grey hair where he had hair on his head, thin skin, wrinkled hands, oversized dark green sweater, some bands on his wrists – walk up to them. "I know you," Max said, and Danny recognised the tone of his voice. Max was trying to think of something at the same time as talking. "Casper, right?"

"Aye, lad," the man replied, effortlessly stepping around a fallen gravestone. "That's me name, and yer names are Max and Danny." As the man – the Ghost-type Gym Leader, Danny realised with a small start – moved closer, he saw that the wristbands actually held Pokéballs, several each. "What has you spooked?" As one, Danny and Max looked at the door they just entered through, prompting Casper to laugh. "Ah. Had an encounter with Alastor, did ye now?" The Gym Leader made a gesture, and the boys fell in line as they followed him. "You'd do well to listen to his words, lads. He knows things."

"And is creepy saying it," Danny muttered, softly.

Apparently, it wasn't soft enough to avoid Casper's hearing. "Aye. He long gave up caring for that, and caring for anything. He speaks his mind, and sees deeper than most."

"What happened to him?" Max asked. Casper stopped, and looked Max straight in the eye. "You said he stopped caring for anything. Why?"

The Gym Leader chuckled heartily, though it ended in a cough. "Clever. Ye, something happened. It isn't mine to share, but smart lads like yerself can figure it out." He opened a door, which led to the outside. "Now for a question of me own. Why did ye come here? We're a long way off the path, lads, and we don't see many youngsters here."

"We're going to Mead Town, and Danny wanted to visit," Max replied, even as they stepped onto the grassy slopes of the mountain. It was warmer here than inside, but not by much.

"Mead Town, huh. LeeAnn getting challengers?"

"Yeah. Wattson suggested it."

Danny had a sudden brainwave, but Casper put a stop to that idea before he could even utter it. "Ah. Wattson's a smart man. If he wants ye to go see LeeAnn, then ye should do that. If ye fail, then come visit me." A sudden breeze made Danny shiver. "And don't think I didn't notice yer not mentioning yerself, Max. Why are _you_ here?"

"Does he have to have a reason?" Danny asked.

"Of course not." Casper seemed almost offended. "But Alastor doesn't talk too much to sight-seers. He talks to those with _reason_ to visit, and death is indiscriminate. Who'd you lose, lad?"

"Ralts. Poachers," Max said at length, offering the same reply Danny had heard him mention often before.

Casper scoffed. "Poachers want live Pokémon, lad, not dead. Ralts are worth nothing dead. How did it die?"

Danny sucked in some breath, sharply. Nobody had ever called Max on the half-truth before. "He..." Max trailed off, seemingly unwilling to say more. Silence stretched; Casper looking at Max intently, Max looking at the ground, Danny looking between then. "He died in my arms."

Casper put a hand on Max's shoulder. "There lad. That wasn't hard, now was it? Lying's a bad habit to get into."

Max wrenched his shoulder out from under Casper's grip, suddenly looking furious. "Stop it," he demanded.

"Stop what, _laddie?"_ Casper said in return. "Asking questions? For giratina's sake, I know ye're a teenage lad, self-centred as can be and twice as arrogant, but yer emotions are not the boss of ye. The world needs rational minds, not hotheads." A quick hand movement caused a Pokémon to appear, and a soft red glow to surround Max. "There. That's better."

"I really still don't like you saying that," Max replied, to Danny's confusion. All the tension seemed to have fled from Max's body, and there was no trace of the furious look on his face. What was left was… mild disapproval?

"When ye're as old as I am, yer propensity to care goes down." Casper's right hand went into the air, scratching a shuppet. "Not yer first time?"

"Abandoned house west of Fortree, helped shuppet reunite with its trainer." Max shot a weak smile at Danny. "Shuppet can drain strong negative emotions."

"I knew that," Danny muttered, but Max saw right through him, grinning knowingly. "Mr. Casper? Can I send my duskull out?"

"Of course lad," the Gym Leader replied. "No need to ask permission. Ye're a trainer, and this isn't some Pokémon free zone." Shuppet made a lap around Casper's head to emphasise the point.

Danny grabbed the right Pokéball, and sent duskull out, but as soon as he did that, she started glowing, the sudden flash blinding Danny for a second.

Danny's Pokémon landed on the ground, as a full body, legs, feet, hands sprouted in the light, and the light grew, until it – she – was about as tall as Danny himself was. Maybe an inch shorter. Then, the light vanished, leaving just a dusclops. "Whoa."

"Congratulations lad. Ye picked a good duskull to catch. They've got fairly long evolution cycles." Casper walked around the dusclops, who was shifting from foot to foot, trying to get used to something. "She looks tough, but make sure ye practice. Dusclops and duskull fight differently."

That, at least, Danny knew from spending time at his uncle's place. "Wait. She? You can tell her gender?"

"Always have been able to for Ghosts," Casper said with a shrug. "More hit 'n miss with other Pokémon." The Gym Leader stepped back onto the path leading up. "Come, let's find a trainer to inaugurate yer new dusclops."

They located a trainer some way up the mountain, on its northern flank, about ten minutes later. It was a friendly spar, almost lazy. Danny knew he and Max put more into their practice battles, but this was fine for a newly evolved Pokémon. Dusclops had no issue keeping up with the scizor when she attacked, which was something Danny had been worried about a tiny bit. They agreed to end it without any Pokémon declared the victor.

"Come," Casper ordered after the battle, as Max challenged the trainer to a battle of his own. They walked a fair distance away from the other trainers – and Danny made sure to add a few more steps when he saw Max send out manectric to deal with a lopunny. "Ye've got work to do."

Casper's words surprised Danny. "It wasn't that bad," he said defensively.

"Nay, it wasn't," Casper admitted as a bright yellow flash and a loud crackle announced manectric unleashing a powerful Discharge. "Ye trained duskull well. Too well."

"Huh?" That was a compliment, right? Why was it a bad thing? "I don't get it."

"Yer dusclops kept wanting to dodge. That's a fine strategy with duskull, but dusclops are immobile, lad. They fare far better tanking the hits and dishing damage back out. Yer dusclops lost time trying to do something she couldn't."

"So, more like aron, less like manectric?" Danny asked as he watched the electric type jump over what looked like a Shadow Ball.

Casper shook his head. "Lad, aron still move. Dusclops can fight the entire battle in an area the size of a hula hoop. They don't need to move. They stand there, they absorb what's sent their way, and they outlast. Dusclops don't _win._ Their opponents lose."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Danny wondered as he looked into the distance, taking his eyes off the battle for a second. The mainland was visible across the water, and he could even make out the Safari Zone entrance from here. "You win or you lose. Right?"

"Banal nonsense," Casper spat, literally. "What if dusclops faints, but exhausts another Pokémon? Who won then?" The Gym Leader let a pause fall, just long enough that Danny couldn't reply. "Don't, laddie. Ye do not understand, nor am I expecting ye to. Maybe it'll come with practice. Maybe it won't. There are trainers triple yer age that do not understand this." A loud crackle of electricity whipped through the air. "If ye manage to, ye'll have a leg up."

"And if I don't?"

"Then ye don't," Casper replied drily, before his Pokénav rang. Danny took a step or two back towards the fight, even as Casper took it, listened, and ended the call. "I'm leaving. Ye can find yer way down." The Gym Leader walked off at his normal brisk pace.

By the time Max's fight ended, two minutes later with a very narrow loss for Max, Casper was probably halfway down the mountain already, Danny thought. They followed, more leisurely, talking about the fights and about dusclops.

They were close to the entrance back into the mountain's interior, maybe two or three minutes of walking away, when Max suddenly stopped. It took Danny a moment to actually notice, and when he looked back, he saw his friend staring at one of the bushes on the side of the path, standing stock-still. "Max?"

" _Do not interrupt."_ The voice in his head was soft, male, smouldering, not human, demanding compliance. _"Look right."_ Danny turned without thinking about it, and saw golden-white; blazing, comforting, soothing, intelligent, life-yet-not. _"Keep silent."_

The invisible pressure eased off, but flickering flames burned at the back of Danny's mind as he turned back to Max, who was rustling through the bush, looking for something, but apparently not finding it. "Danny?" he called. "Where are you?"

"I'm here," said an unfamiliar voice from Danny's left, and when he turned to look, he saw… himself. Same clothing, same hair, same everything. Except the smirk, which vanished when his… whatever spoke again. "You never told me what ya wanted to do to the poachers that got ralts."

Max looked confused. "Put them in jail?" he half-asked. "That's what we did, right? They got their rewards."

"Did they?" 'Danny' asked, taking several steps to the edge. Max followed, as did the real Danny. "Is that all you want to do? I remember sceptile keeping you back." The fake chuckled. "Would've felt so good to punch him, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And that masquerain poacher? It must've felt good to hear him break his arm."

"Kinda..."

"Oh, c'mon Max. You know it did. I sure felt good."

Max shot the fake a weird look. "You didn't sound like it."

"Eh, changed my mind." The real Danny made to talk, but heat flared in his head, preventing him from doing anything apart from clutching his head in pain for a second or two. "But sure. Maybe not that poacher. But the poachers that got ralts. You're not saying you wouldn't want revenge on them. And I don't mean time in jail," the illusion – was it an illusion? – added. "You want to get back at them for the pain they caused you, and his mother."

"I..." Max said, and from Danny's sideways view of his friend, he saw Max biting his lip, like he always did when he was nervous or unsure.

"Well, got some good news for ya. They're here." The illusion turned, arm outstretched in a revealing gesture, and the two boys followed. "All bound-up and at your mercy."

There, near the entrance to the interior graveyard, were two men, wearing full-black and masks, just like they'd been in the memory the gardevoir had given them on Izabe Island. They were struggling against their bonds, but the ropes were incredibly tight, Danny thought, because they weren't making any headway.

Oh, wait. Illusions. Now he felt stupid.

The warmth in his head turned comforting and warning.

Max was halfway to them already, but for some reason, he turned around, eyes passing over Danny's form before resting on the fake. His fists were balled up, and he looked tense. "Why are they here?"

"Casper and I caught them earlier. Figured it was a nice present," the illusion lied easily, but a look of confusion – did he really look that goofy when confused? - came over its face when Max's fists unclenched. "Aren't ya–"

"I saw you and Casper," Max interrupted. "Talking. Until Casper left. How'd you capture them?"

"Does it matter? Just go get revenge."

Max snuck a look at the bound illusion, almost longingly, Danny thought. "It's not real. You're not the real Danny." He made to grab a Pokéball on his right side, but froze before he could do so.

" _You're_ _a clever one_ _,"_ a female voice barked, and Danny saw a shimmer where the bound pair had been. The illusion melted, revealing a golden-white, majestic, Pokémon. A second ninetales joined the first, leaving a wave of hot air as the Pokémon moved past Danny. _"What would you have done, young one, had they been real?"_

"Pummelled their face in," Max said in a monotone, immediately, before shaking his head. "Wait, no, what? You made me say that."

" _Yes. And no."_ The female ninetales walked up to Max, and around, three of her tails moving independently of the others, caressing Max's arms and neck. _"You spoke_ truth. _It is what you want. What you dream of in the dark of night, when not dwelling on other matters. Sometimes, you're ashamed of dreaming it. Sometimes you don't remember. And sometimes… Most times, even… Most times, you don't care. Because you want it. You need the catharsis."_

Ca-whatsnow? _"You know what is happening."_ The male ninetales, the one that had held Danny in his sway, was speaking now. _"Plots. Plans. They must be stopped. They must be_ purified. _"_

"What are you talking about?"

" _Petal Grove. Rinshin. Abominations forcing Ghosts."_ The male ninetales joined his… partner? Mate? Both of them circled Max, who looked like he wasn't happy with that. _"You'll do it."_

With that, the two Pokémon let out a shared howl, eyes glowing, and the next thing Danny knew was him getting up from the grass, no ninetales in sight. He did hear a ping of a Pokéball accepting a capture, and he was just in time to see it vanish.

"What was that?" Danny asked of Max as he got up. Max appeared to have remained standing. Somehow. "Did you just capture a Pokémon?"

"The ninetales caught me a vulpix," Max said softly, kneeling by the spot where the Pokéball had vanished. "Jirachi that was weird."

Danny could only agree with that, but there was something more important. "Is it true?" he asked, trying to catch Max's eyes, but his friend avoided his gaze, even when he got up. "Max!"

"Is what true?"

"The… the dreams. And wanting to..." _Pummel their face in._

Silence stretched for what felt like a long, long time, with not a sound on the mountainside, except the whistling of the wind through grass. Danny kept looking at Max, who kept his head down, looking at something near his feet. Danny didn't care about that. He just wanted the answer. The ninetales hadn't sounded like they were lying, but they were legendarily cunning. He wouldn't be surprised to find out it was an exaggeration or something.

Dark eyes met dark eyes behind glasses, and Danny knew the answer before Max said it. "Yes. A hundred times yes."

Danny gave in to the irresistible urge to hug his friend, and got a confused look for it. And a warm face. "Let's go back. Enough crazy stuff here."

"Yeah..."

The journey back was silent, uneventful, quick, until they reached the obelisk at the entrance, where they saw a familiar sight of a man wearing all-white.

As before, Alastor approached them, stopping Max and Danny by stepping in front of them. He took Max's wrists in his hands, and made eye-contact. "Take good care of her."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Max gently scratched the fox-like Pokémon lying on his lap, and she leant into them with a soft purr-like rumble in her throat and belly. The vulpix wanted attention, and was very good at getting it, Max had learned in the few hours they'd had together. Not that he minded: there was something calming about the fire-type's warmth underneath his fingers, on his thighs, next to his calves, even if him having a vulpix made him remember the very-much-not-calming events on Mt. Pyre's flanks.

 _Jirachi_ this day had been strange. Danny hadn't stopped giving him weird looks ever since, and Max had spent the first few minutes after getting in the Center, when Danny was in the shower, just looking up things about ninetales on the internet.

Turns out there'd been stories of a pair of ninetales on Mt. Pyre stretching over a hundred and fifty years back. With how long they lived, Max was willing to bet a badge it was the same pair as back then. They just felt ancient, and very powerful. Max was pretty sure he could count the Pokémon that had the same… aura, he supposed, on one hand, if he didn't count the Legendaries.

The stories also hadn't been kind, and Max felt a shiver on his spine even recalling it. He was pretty certain he knew what the male ninetales had meant when he said 'purify' now, and while he'd love to punish the ones responsible, the idea of going that far made him more than a bit sick to his stomach.

It had been the first story chronologically, back when Hoenn was in a civil war. Mt. Pyre, even then a monument and graveyard, was under attack from a small force seeking… something on there. The website wasn't clear. Whatever it had been, two ninetales had appeared at the water's edge, at the moment the civilian defenders were close to giving up, and they had unleashed hell on earth. The end result had been eighty percent fatalities, and the remaining twenty percent bore burn marks for the rest of their lives. Two years later, when the fighting had ended, and a memorial and gravestones for the war had been raised, the ninetales emerged again, shattering select graves: the graves of those that had died attacking the place.

Ever since, vulpix roamed the flanks of the mountain, in decent numbers. Many trainers had mentioned getting a vulpix from there. Max wondered how many had lied about how they'd captured the vulpix, saying that it had been a battle, and not something like this. Like he'd done to Professor Birch.

The door to the lobby slid open with a soft hiss, and Max raised himself from the sofa to greet Danny, who'd gone to get food. They were the only ones in the Center, as far as he knew, so the food took a while to make. Danny was probably helping again.

Max didn't recognise the girl, but he recognised the short-haired boy next to her. "Paul!"

Paul, who'd been talking with his sister, looked up. "Max!" he exclaimed in that accent of his, sounding exactly the same as he had a few months back. "Fancy meeting you 'round here." He led his sister to the sofa Max had been occupying. "Max, meet my sister Alice. Alice, meet Max. He's the one who beat me in Pyreflow."

Max set vulpix down, and the two exchanged a shake. "So, got a ninjask already?"

Alice smiled, but shook her head. "Naw," she said, in an accent that was heavier than Paul's was. "Paul tells me it's getting closer."

"It is! It's got more red than your nincada had, Max."

"I'll take your word for it." The door slid open again, this time revealing Danny, with two plates of food on a platter. "Danny, look who walked in."

"Paul?" Danny ventured, and Paul confirmed it for him. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Gee, I wonder why, Mr. three badge going to Lavaridge," Paul drawled. "Alice, meet the other guy I roomed with. I did beat him."

"Duh," Alice said, and Max saw her roll her eyes, before she took a sniff. "Ooooh, that smells great."

Danny put down the platter, and offered one of the plates to Alice. "Here, go eat. I can wait." Max's stomach took that time to gurgle audibly. "And Max can't. Sorry Paul, no luck for you, I think."

"Got that right," Max added as he snatched the second plate and utensils. Vulpix let out a quick series of soft barks near his feet. "You'll get some food after this, okay?"

Two hours later, the three boys sat in the lobby, lazily eating ice cream. Alice was around as well, but she was off to the side, doing some drawing.

Most of the Pokémon had been returned to their balls, but five of them were still out. Three of those were Max's: vulpix and bagon were flanking him on the sofa, and clefairy was chatting with Paul's marill. Danny's aron completed the set, because Danny had been cleaning it after dinner. "Bagon, clefairy, vulpix. Are you trying to catch rare Pokémon?"

"Naw," Max tried to imitate Paul and Alice's accent. "Just worked like that."

"He's only really caught on… two Pokémon," Danny added. "Just manectric and vulpix."

Max did a quick count in his head. Starter, injury, capture, food, Egg, injury, playing, vulpix. "Yeah. You captured most of them." Only Danny's two newest Pokémon weren't captured by battling them. "It's kinda weird, I suppose."

"Kinda?" Paul nodded his head with a weird look on his face. Disbelief? "What are you? A Pokémon whisperer? You sweet-talked all of them into going with you?"

"Only some of them." Max didn't know why he felt the need to defend himself, but he did. "Just ninjask and poliwag."

"And the others?"

"Found bagon's Egg, healed baltoy and clefairy."

"Healed clefairy from the brink of death," Danny corrected, and Max shot him a glare. "Come off it. She would've died. You know it." He stretched, and Max could just about hear Danny's back cracking. "He heard a Pokémon and went out. Into a thunderstorm."

"Is that why clefairy has a scar?" Alice asked as she sat down in the chair next to her twin brother's. "She got hit by lightnin'?" Max nodded in confirmation. "That's gotta be dangerous."

Max shrugged. "I had electrike." And he had trusted her to defend him, like pikachu had defended them. She'd never let him down. "But yeah, she was in a bad spot. Two days in a Pokémon Center. Baltoy was just sick. Pokémon flu or whatever." He looked at the twins. "You had to battle for all of them?"

Paul nodded as he put his spoon and bowl away. "Except machop, all of them."

"Machop just sat down for eatin' with us." Alice giggled. "You didn't even notice for five minutes."

Paul didn't give his sister a verbal reply, but he did roll his eyes, seemingly outside of her view. Max wasn't so sure, because Alice renewed her giggling at that point. "So, badge count?"

"Seven," Danny answered. "Flannery, Terry, Roxanne, Wattson. Brawly was on holiday. You?"

"Eight." Paul looked proud of himself, and he had every reason to. "Got the Illusion Badge two days ago. Also picked up Feather and Mind." He produced his badge case, throwing it over to the Petalburg duo.

After a bit of brief checking, and congratulations, Danny tossed the badge case back. "Illusion Badge, huh. Was Casper hard to beat?"

"Two tries." Paul scowled. "Old coot requires you to win. Draws don't get you a badge, and his Pokémon know Destiny Bond." Marill jumped onto the armrest of Paul's chair, crying its name softly. "I hate Ghosts. They're dangerous. Roxanne is right."

An awkward silence followed, Max, Danny, and Alice sharing a few looks as Paul got up and collected all the dishes from the ice cream. Max was sort of happy dusclops was in Littleroot, and he guessed Danny was too. "So, Alice, how many Ribbons?"

"Four." She didn't appear too happy about that. "Nearly beat a top coordinator two weeks back, but he won on points." Behind everyone, the door slid open as Paul left the lobby.

"Ouch."

"Who'd ya lose to?" Danny asked. "Maybe Max knows him."

"Uh, Drew something. Few years older 'n me."

Well, that sounded familiar. "Green hair, absol, flygon, roselia?" Max asked.

Alice's eyes went wide-open, and she nodded. "How'd you know?" she wondered.

"He's one of my sister's rivals. She fought him in two Grand Festivals," Max said as he remembered his sister's nerves before those battles. He wasn't nearly as bad as Harley, but Drew could get to his sister if he wanted to. "Won one, lost one."

"Your… sister?" Alice asked, looking confused. "What's her name?"

"May."

Alice scrunched up her face, snapping her fingers twice before her eyes shot open in understanding. "Oh. Right. Right!" She got up, talking a few steps until she was right in front of Max. "You don't look like her," she stated matter-of-factly.

Max gave a lazy shrug. "And you don't really look like your brother." Both of them had black hair, but Alice's face was a lot rounder and she was shorter than her brother by half a head.

Alice smiled and sat down on the carpet, releasing one of her own Pokémon: a growlithe. "That's true," she said as she rubbed the canine Pokémon between the ears. Vulpix soon jumped down from the sofa, and also received scratches. "You got vulpix on Mt. Pyre, right?"

"Yep. Earlier today." Max saw Alice's face fall slightly. "What's wrong?"

The girl let out a deep sigh. "It's nothing. It's just that… Paul doesn't want to go there, but I do. He just thinks the Ghosts are going to… I don't know… Eat my soul?"

"He really hates them that much?" Danny wondered.

"Yeah… I mean," Alice shot a quick look at the door, which was closed still, "he got his dream eaten by a haunter when we were seven, and a duskull burnt him when we were ten…"

"Good reasons to hate them," Max observed.

"Sure, but it's kinda too much. He wanted to do the Illusion Badge, because our Da knows Casper somehow, but..." She trailed off with a simple shrug, followed by a yawn. "Oh, I guess I'm kinda tired."

Max and Danny, as one, checked the clock. Somehow, it was close to ten. Time flew, apparently. "Well, let's get to bed," Max said as he got up, careful not to dislodge the bagon: he did not want the small dragon to fall on his foot. Again. "We have a badge to get, and you have Contests to get to."

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 **Chaos in Rinshin**

 _Inhabitants of quaint Rinshin Town, population 8503, were awoken suddenly last Tuesday night as various Ghost Pokémon went on what can only be described as a Pokémon rampage, seriously injuring three and interrupting the sleep of hundreds, if not thousands._

 _The reason for the rampage is unknown, but a government source, speaking anonymously, reported that there was no obvious trigger to be found. This is similar to the events in Petal Grove, a scant fifty miles away, back in mid-July. As before, police were powerless to stop the tide of the Ghost Pokémon, and only fate stopped them from attacking as they started feigning confusion._

 _Several trainers whose Pokémon were involved were interrogated, but no lead has been found. One trainer was fined after protesting against how police treated the potentially dangerous Ghosts._

From: Hoenn Mail, September 27th.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : The memorial places aren't really used in the anime. Shame, really, but somewhat understandable. I hope I did them justice. Alastor is some loose amalgamation of various Hex Maniacs and associates - anyone who's played the games and read their quotes knows that they lean towards the creepy.


	18. Chapter 18: Ability

******Disclaimer:****** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Ability**

Mead Town's Gym was located at the outskirts of the small town. Dome-shaped, with panes of glass serving as the dome's roof, Max was reminded of his family's greenhouses, only on a bigger scale. Behind the Gym, several acres of land were sectioned off, and the signs on the fences told Max and Danny that these, too, were Gym land. Most of it was grassland, but there was a more forested area in the back, Max thought.

The weather was okay for the last day of September. Not too warm, but certainly not chilly, and the sun mostly shone, though some clouds did dim the sunlight every once in a while. It was just past two in the afternoon, and as agreed the day before, when Max and Danny had caught LeeAnn right as she closed the Gym for the night, they were about to fight for their eighth badge: the Meadow Badge. LeeAnn hadn't told them anything about what kind of battle she fought, but it was their eighth badge, and Max knew from experience with Ash and his father that Hoenn Gym Leaders loved to break out the special battle rules for that.

Case in point, Juan's mixed Double/Single battle, and his father's habit of setting Triple Battles. Max really hoped it wasn't going to be one of those; he felt he had enough trouble keeping up with two on two in Doubles.

They rang the bell, and the door opened nearly immediately, revealing the Gym Leader. LeeAnn was a short woman in her forties, with reddish, dyed, hair, and a broad smile on her face. "Right on time boys. Come, we're having this one outside. It's a beautiful day."

They followed LeeAnn through the Gym, through all sorts of nice smells and weird plants. Max saw at least ten Grass-type Pokémon, most of them sunbathing in the warmth of the greenhouse and the autumn sun. By comparison, it was a bit cold outside, but still warm enough.

She led them to a recently mowed field. It was perfectly flat, with no rocks in sight. There were several exeggutor around, but Max assumed they were there to protect the trainers from stray attacks. "This is my outdoor arena, boys. Do you like it?" They nodded in response. "Good. Now, I know you, mister Gym Leader's son, are probably wondering what the trick to this battle is. It's a Hoenn tradition, after all."

Max smiled sheepishly. "Guilty."

"Normally," LeeAnn started, "I have trainers like you do a four-on-two: four of your Pokémon try to beat two of my better Pokémon. But there's two of you, and the second one would have an unfair advantage. Sooooo, I came up with a better idea last night. We're going to have a Double Battle, four on four. You each have two Pokémon, and I have four. Last Pokémon standing wins, of course." She smiled at them. "Go. Take five minutes to talk strategy."

The Gym Leader walked away, leaving Max and Danny behind, gobsmacked. "Wow. Just… Wow," was all Max could get out.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "This is cool!" He shot a look across the arena. "Wonder what she has planned."

"Nothing good," Max replied drily, and they shared a short chuckle. "Ninjask for me first?"

"Sounds good," Danny agreed. "Masquerain or skorupi for me. Thinking about skorupi."

"Probably smart. Works a bit at range, so we don't get in each other's way that much."

Danny nodded. "Right. And our second Pokémon?"

Max thought for a few moments. "We'll see," he said at length. "Let's see what she has out."

Danny accepted that, and after some more strategy talk, LeeAnn came back to tell them it was time to start.

Up close, Max saw a small line in the grass, indicating the arena's edge, and judging by where LeeAnn was standing, it was a big arena too – bigger than normal, giving plenty of space to move around in.

Four flashes of light emerged around the middle of the arena, pitting ninjask and skorupi against a sunflora and a cherrim. "Hang on, don't sunflora get..." Danny said, before he was interrupted by a loud whistle from the referee, signalling the start of the battle. "Poison Sting sunflora!"

"Shadow Ball sunflora!" Max added. He knew the move one of them was going to use, but Danny's words had jogged something in his memory. He grabbed his Pokédex, seeing, and feeling, that sunflora had got a Sunny Day off, and seeing that most of the Poison Sting and Shadow Ball had been stopped by a quick Magical Leaf by cherrim. He let the Pokédex scan sunflora, and quickly tapped the abilities button. "It's got Solar Power or Chlorophyll."

"Solar Power? What does – Protect! – that do?"

Two Solar Beams bore down on skorupi, but the Protect held, and Danny's small bug skittered away as quickly as it could, adding some distance.

"Increases power, but saps health," Max summed up as he put the Pokédex away. Sunflora didn't appear to be moving particularly fast. "It's probably that. Fury Swipes sunflora!"

Ninjask dove under another Solar Beam by cherrim, but a flurry of pink petals surrounded the sunflora, and cherrim too, as the Bug-type came close, and Max had no idea what move it was.

Some of the petals scattered when the attack hit, but sunflora definitely wasn't hurt by the Fury Swipes, even after three sideswipes by ninjask, and the petals neatly blocked most of the Poison String skorupi sent at cherrim. "What is that?" Danny asked, dismayed, as skorupi and ninjask scattered to avoid a double Razor Leaf barrage. Some of the leaves impacted on the shielding in front of the boys. "Yikes, that's powerful."

"Ninjask, Shadow Ball," Max said as he scanned the moves he didn't know the effects of on sunflora's move list. He didn't hear any cries of pain, and assumed it hadn't hit. "Flower Shield? Creates a flowery shield around all Grass-type Pokémon in the area."

"Sounds ri- watch out!"

As one, sunflora and cherrim released a double Solar Beam, bracketing skorupi. The Scorpion Pokémon was nailed to the ground, and Danny was forced to order a Protect to let him shield the follow-up attack that cherrim sent. "What? They can learn Weather Ball?" Danny complained. "I missed that in class."

Max brought his hands to his belt, quickly adjusting the position of two of his Pokéballs. "I have an idea. Get the sunflora." Max quickly explained his plan as ninjask avoided and skorupi blocked a barrage of Leech Seeds sent in tandem. Then, both boys ordered another round of attacks. Ninjask flew up high, into the sun, while skorupi skittered closer to the pair opposite him, easily avoiding a Razor Leaf by virtue of ducking under the attack. "Go!"

Ninjask dropped down from up high, accelerating as his pincers started to glow, easily dodging around the bursts of leaves sent up to stop him. He bore down on sunflora, who made no effort to even try to dodge, instead infusing various petals around it with a blue light and sending them in all directions all at once. The Petal Blizzard forced ninjask to abort his attack run in, but skorupi had dug his claws into the ground, avoiding most of the attack. When it was over, he jumped, landing on the sunflora, biting down with purple fangs. It lasted only a moment before the cherrim slammed into it, sending it flying off, but it was long enough.

The sunflora cried out in pain, putting a leaf over the place where skorupi had bit it, and Max high-fived Danny, though his smile didn't last long. "Oh, come on," he said through clenched teeth as he saw both sunflora's leaves and cherrim's petals glow with a white light. "Synthesis too?" A branch of glowing green near sunflora's feet caught his eye. "And Ingrain?"

"Poison's going to win out in the end," Danny reminded Max.

"Yeah, but a cornered Pokémon is dangerous." A bolt of blue light travelled from cherrim to sunflora, and pink petals started swirling around it at breakneck pace. "Get away!"

The hurricane of petals exploded in size, until it took up most of the width of the field. Max couldn't see skorupi, who was somewhere near the edge of the arena, off to the side, but it wasn't the Bug-Poison Pokémon that was the target. It was ninjask.

The hurricane sped towards ninjask at the same time as a tall barrage of Magical Leaf bracketed him on the right, cutting off any path for escape. Max cried for his Pokémon to use Agility, but it was too late, and the hurricane caught him, tossing him about in the petal-infused winds before dropping him to the ground none too gently.

Thankfully, ninjask was able to get up, but that had to have done quite a bit of damage. He certainly didn't look too stable. And still, skorupi was nowhere in sight. "Where's skorupi?"

Another flurry of petals formed, this one in the spiralling Petal Dance pattern Max knew, and cherrim added a Solar Beam to it, aimed straight at ninjask. The bug was fast enough to get out of the way, but the attack hit the shields right in front of the boys, blinding them, and audibly straining the shields, prompting Max to take a few steps to the side. "Now!" he heard Danny yell.

The attack faded naturally, and Max saw a sunflora being launched into the air a few feet, skorupi inches underneath, trying to catch the flowery Pokémon in his jaws again. That didn't occur; cherrim slammed into him again, but the skorupi landed on his feet and launched an immediate barrage of Pin Missiles at sunflora.

The Razor Leaf wasn't aimed to intercept, but to damage skorupi, but it didn't do enough. Sunflora fell to the ground, knocked out from all the damage it took, and skorupi was able to concentrate long enough to Dig out. "When did he learn Dig?" Max asked Danny.

"A week ago. I was hoping to surprise you with it, but then you decided to have clefairy fight skorupi, and it went out the window." He grinned widely, holding out a hand for a high five, which Max gave him. "Worked, didn't it?"

"Yep." Skorupi popped up near them, showing the boys that he hadn't come out unharmed. Still, the sunflora was gone, and in its place was a ludicolo, which immediately sent out another Sunny Day, since clouds were starting to move in again. "Huh. Ludicolo don't have sun-related abilities, I think..."

"Think later, fight now," Danny reminded him. "Skorupi, Poison Sting!"

The stings were blocked by a Razor Leaf, and ludicolo launched its own Seed Bomb at skorupi, forcing the small bug to use Protect. The green dome groaned, but didn't break. It was clear that there wasn't much left in skorupi's reserves, and everyone involved recognised that. LeeAnn ordered cherrim to send another fiery Weather Ball down the field.

Skorupi managed to skitter out of the way, but it wouldn't have hit anyway. As quick as he could, Max returned ninjask, sending out vulpix in the path of the Weather Ball, which splashed harmlessly on the fox's body. The vulpix glowed red for a split second, too. "Alright! Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

Max felt legitimately sorry for the cherrim, which was unable to dodge out of the way of the flame sent its way. The attack was a lot bigger than Max was used to, but both the sun and Flash Fire were aiding vulpix.

Vulpix was immobile for too long, however, and a Water Pulse sped towards her, only for it to impact on skorupi. Vulpix avoided the bug flying backwards, but as with cherrim, skorupi was out, and the referee ruled as such. "Thanks."

"Gotta protect the firepower," Danny replied, grinning unrepentantly at his pun. "Not if her Pokémon is what I think it is."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Tell ya later," Danny replied, taking out one Pokéball from his left. Opposite them, LeeAnn also showed one. "Let's hope I'm right, else this is a really bad idea. Magnemite, show 'em what you can do!"

Max wasn't sure which pick surprised him more. Danny's magnemite, or LeeAnn's parasect. Parasect went up in flames if you aimed a magnifying glass at them right, and magnemite didn't have the best of times against a Grass-type.

He really should've seen the Rain Dance coming. Ludicolo did a little jig, launching a blue globe, and the sun turned to heavy rain in an instant, the downpour immediately starting to soak Max and Danny. Meanwhile, parasect avoided taking damage from a Flamethrower because it used Protect, and magnemite was flying high over the arena, the rain of no hindrance whatsoever. "Got any ideas?"

Max meant it slightly sarcastically, but Danny's reply was genuine. "Yeah," he said. "Disable, paralyse, confuse, whatever, ludicolo, then deal with parasect. Thunder Wave!"

The electricity, unhindered by the water, rained down on ludicolo and parasect, who both tried to avoid the worst of it. They succeeded, but Max was quick to react. "Flamethrower again!"

This jet of flame was far smaller than the previous set, and ludicolo managed to cancel it out with a Water Pulse, spreading steam as a minor smokescreen. The steam dissipated mere seconds later, as an Energy Ball shot through it, aimed at where vulpix had been a few seconds earlier. "Ember," Max ordered.

The Ember wasn't particularly powerful, but combined with another electric attack from above, it should have caused more than a few problems for the duo opposite them.

Except it didn't.

Ludicolo effortlessly blocked the Ember with its body at the same time as it took the Electric attack, shielding the parasect long enough for it to set up a Light Screen. The attack manifested as a dome, shimmering in the rain, reflecting light as ludicolo launched tendrils of bright green at magnemite.

Danny's Pokémon dipped and dove, darting away, avoiding the attack long enough for vulpix to disrupt the Mega Drain with a quick Flamethrower. Moments later, she was forced to move as a brown ball barely missed her. "They want to keep us away."

"They want to outlast us," Danny replied, and Max saw his point. Ludicolo wasn't moving faster, ruling out Swift Swim, and he knew some parasect healed in the rain. This one probably did, too. "We need a clear shot at parasect. Thundershock!"

Magnemite intercepted another ball of sludge with a measured jolt of electricity, disrupting the attack to the point of uselessness. "Easier said than done. Ludicolo is just going to block it." He stuck a few fingers in his mouth, whistling a sharp note, which caused vulpix to run towards them, putting even more distance between her and the two opponents. "Want ninjask back in?"

"Nah. That's just wasting Flash Fire." A Mirror Shot met a Water Pulse, and while magnemite's attack lost, the Water Pulse also fell apart a few yards onward. "Vulpix has Confuse Ray, right?"

"Ludicolo?"

Danny nodded as he directed magnemite to move in closer, and Max told vulpix to do the same. The small Fire-type zigged and zagged across the field, dodging a barrage of smaller, but still potent, Sludge Bombs, and the occasional Water Pulse that came too close for comfort. The ludicolo was very accurate, and it was only getting more accurate over time.

The orders were given simultaneously, and the attacks were done simultaneously. Magnemite let out an unholy screeching noise just barely inside their hearing range, and though Max couldn't see vulpix's eyes, he did see the purple energy that surrounded her, casting an eerie light in the green and grey of the arena.

She took a Sludge Bomb for her attack, but it didn't do much. She took the attack, rolling on her back to immediately get back up again as if nothing had happened. "Now, Flamethrower parasect!"

Parasect had been able to shrug off the Supersonic. Ludicolo might have been able to as well, but the combined effort of Confuse Ray and Supersonic had made it thoroughly confused, and it was in no shape to stop the flame. The Water Pulse it did send out, aimed in magnemite's general direction, fell apart after crossing half the distance, and the Carefree Pokémon itself was seemingly dancing to a tune only it could hear.

Parasect was _just_ fast enough to avoid the Flamethrower, to Max's annoyance. Unfortunately for it, that meant it'd placed itself right in a Mirror Shot, and though the light-blue attack was diminished by the Light Screen, it did cause some damage. The parasect landed straight behind the ludicolo.

Magnemite pushed through a Thunder Wave from above, and both Pokémon were hit dead-on. The ludicolo cried out in pain as Max saw crackles run over its body. "Hex!"

Again, vulpix glowed purple, creating a purple-red eye above herself, from which the attack launched itself at ludicolo. It pierced the Light Screen, though the barrier sapped a fair amount of the energy before finally breaking, and hit the Water/Grass type.

The attack did surprisingly little damage, apparently, as ludicolo struggled – successfully – to adjust its body in vulpix's direction. It opened its mouth.

Max _knew_ which attack was coming, and he was completely unable to stop it. Vulpix wasn't the quickest at dodging after unleashing an attack, and a Rain-boosted Hydro Pump would be enough to knock vulpix out, probably. She wasn't that durable.

Green light flashed, shattered, and broke, but magnemite, not vulpix, took the brunt of the attack, even If the water blasted magnemite into vulpix, sending them both flying back towards the halfway line. "Thanks."

"No problem. We're a team," Danny replied, even as magnemite levitated itself up from the mud. "Need to finish quick. Can't take much more."

As he said that, parasect unleashed green pollen into the air. Max recognised the Aromatherapy, which meant that ludicolo's paralysis was likely gone now. "Flamethrower!"

"Mirror Shot!"

The thin beam sped ahead of the flame, aimed precisely, hitting ludicolo's hands. It had been trying to form another Light Screen, but was denied the opportunity now. Moreover, the attack caused it to move slightly, both from impact and from flinching, which opened up the path for Flamethrower to hit the target they'd wanted to hit all battle long.

Parasect keeled over. It wasn't quite a magnifying glass in the sun, but it was still essentially a one hit knock-out.

Vulpix took a lesson in flying and landing hard as a Water Pulse hit her, and Max didn't even wait for the referee to rule to return her. She was out, and he thanked her for an amazing début battle. "Let's finish this. Ninjask, go for it!"

The Bug-type made his reappearance, looking slightly rejuvenated, and not at all impeded by the rain.

Ludicolo didn't even try to attack the ninjask, instead focusing on magnemite with another draining attack. Green tendrils met a green shield, which held long enough for ninjask to rake a first Fury Cutter across the ludicolo's back.

The Protect collapsed, but magnemite lashed out with its electricity, putting everything it had into shattering the tendrils. It did, though it barely kept itself afloat, and ludicolo reeled back as its attack fell apart, right in time for ninjask to fly by once again with glowing pincers.

A quick Water Pulse was enough to knock magnemite out, but the third Fury Cutter hit at the same time, and LeeAnn's last Pokémon went to its… knees, Max supposed. Red pierced his vision, but all that Max was interested in was the battle going on at the far end. He saw the glowing white of ninjask's pincers, and he saw the ludicolo struggling to move, somehow moving just enough to launch a last attack as it opened its mouth wide, unleashing a small, but potent, wail.

With the ease of a few practice battles against whismur, ninjask zipped to the side, avoiding the Echoed Voice, before coming in again, ramming the ludicolo right in the eyes.

It fell. Ninjask flew away.

A double high-five was exchanged, even before the referee ruled. Another one followed after the referee had ruled, and ninjask flew over afterwards, landing on Max's outstretched left arm. "You were amazing," the trainer told his Pokémon. "You deserve a long rest."

The rain vanished, replaced with blazing sun once more, and Max saw LeeAnn walk over after returning a vileplume. Both boys waited for her, both of them smiling widely. Max felt giddy. Eight badges. They really had eight badges. "I did not expect the vulpix. New catch?"

"Yeah. How'd you guess?"

"Your father, Max, said neither of you had a Fire-type." LeeAnn glared half-heartedly at them. Funny, she looked remarkably dry, unlike Max and Danny. "As you saw, it made short work of parasect." Then, she smiled broadly, hugging each boy in turn. "But fair is fair. You did amazing, with great teamwork and understanding of your limits. And a switch so fast even I barely saw it coming." Max smiled, thankful that a blush failed to appear. "I do have one question for you, Danny. Why magnemite? You have a masquerain, a snorunt, a gulpin. Those are all better against Grass."

"Masquerain don't fly well in rain, snorunt and gulpin are on the ground. Didn't want to be anywhere near that Flash Fire'd vulpix." Max snorted, and Danny smirked. "I gambled, and won."

"It wasn't raining when you sent it out. You guessed I'd use parasect?"

"They're the only other Grass-type I know of with an ability that works in the rain." Danny shrugged, turning it into a stretch.

To Max's surprise, LeeAnn laughed. "Well, that's me outsmarted by a twelve year old." She moved a hand into a pocket, revealing two Meadow Badges a moment later, handing one of the green-with-a-brown-stripe rectangles to each of them. "Congratulations with your eighth badge, boys."

"Thank you," the boys chorused, and Danny was a slight bit quicker on poking Max in the shoulder.

LeeAnn ignored their byplay, but Max saw her smile. "I'm supposed to tell you all about the League and where it is, but you probably know it already." She gave Max a pointed look.

"Starts December first, Ever Grande, sign-ups close on November 30th, five o'clock in the afternoon," Max recited. It was the same as when Ash had taken place, down to the day. "There'll be boats from all over Hoenn going there from November 10th onwards."

"See? What am I even needed for?" LeeAnn exclaimed dramatically, throwing her hands into the air before hugging both boys again. "If you keep going like this, you'll do great there. Now, let's go bring our Pokémon to Nurse Joy." She looked them over. "And maybe take a shower. I sort of forgot to tell exeggutor to shield your box from the rain."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Four faces looked at the two boys from the videophone screen as both Max's Dad and Professor Birch accepted the call, about four hours after they'd returned to the Center. No greetings were exchanged as they waited for the boys to speak. It was sort of funny, Danny thought.

"We did it." As one, they held out their badge cases, identical except Danny's had a sticker on the lid, showing eight badges lined up. Everyone on the other end gave their congratulations. "No thanks to you, Dad, though," Max added. "Telling LeeAnn about our Pokémon? How could you?"

"Well, when a colleague and friend asks for help, you give it if you can," Max's father replied, smiling identically to his son. "I thought it was a good challenge, working together and all, with no Fire-types." Danny saw his uncle smile at that, and he mirrored it. "Maxim?"

"Max got himself a vulpix two days ago."

"She absorbed a Sunny Day Weather Ball," Max added helpfully. "Cherrim noticed."

"And parasect too," Danny added happily. "After we got ludicolo out of the way."

"Danny came up with the plan for that, and he predicted the parasect."

"You could've too," Danny replied, before noticing several very broad smiles on the screen. Even his mother was smiling fondly, and that rarely happened. "Oh, er, sorry."

"Regardless of who did what, Danny, eight badges in six months is an impressive achievement," his mother said. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're so proud we feel like we could burst." Nods followed. "Including your father, naturally. I'm sure you'll hear of him tomorrow."

"Where are you going now?" Danny's uncle asked. "Two months is a long time to train up."

"Lilycove first," Max answered. "Then we take a boat somewhere. We don't know yet. Haven't talked about it beyond that. What did you do, Mum, Dad?"

"You know I barely got my eighth badge in time, Max," Max's mother admonished gently. "I had two weeks to get from Mauville to Ever Grande, and this was nearly twenty-five years ago."

"And I stayed with my parents for a while," the Gym Leader admitted. "But my mother had just broken her leg, so I wanted to be with her." He smiled sheepishly. "And then I nearly missed the last boat to Ever Grande myself."

"Note to self. Take enough time to get to Ever Grande," Danny stated, to faked hurt and amusement from the adults. "And you, Mum? When you got to your Grand Festivals?"

His mother smiled again. "The one in Hoenn doesn't count, but when I did the Sinnoh circuit, I went sight-seeing and hiking around Mt. Coronet." Danny felt his jaw drop, and his eyes widen. "I was young, and without my knee troubles yet. Your grandparents have a wealth of pictures I took back then."

"How come I never saw them?"

"You always wanted to play with arcanine." Danny smiled happily. "I rest my case, my son."

They talked for some more, and it was close to half past eight by the time they ended the call. "You call Ash, I'll call Paul and Alice," Danny told Max as they walked back to their rooms, Danny carrying a tray of cookies.

"Sure."

The plan failed because Paul didn't pick up, but Danny'd just try again tomorrow. The boat to Lilycove didn't leave until three anyway. At the other side of the room, Max was talking animatedly, but the call was a lot shorter than Danny expected. "Guess what? Ash is going to be in Lilycove day after tomorrow! He's there with Drake for the Elite Four Charity Match, and he'd get us tickets."

"Ash against Drake?" Danny wondered, and Max nodded vigorously. "Oh man, that's going to be awesome!"

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Hoenn's yearly Elite Four Charity Match will take place at Lilycove Stadium on October 2_ _nd_ _. This year, departing Elite Four member Drake will face off against the winner of the most recent Sinnoh League: Ash Ketchum, 17, of Pallet Town, Kanto. This year's format will be six one on one contests._

 _Tickets can be ordered online as well as at official League outlets, and the stadium itself. The match starts at 20:00 Hoenn Standard Time, and will be broadcast on both TV and radio. All proceeds go to this year's charity: the Epilepsy Initiative._

 _This Charity Match is the thirty-second of its kind. Originally started to aid Pacifidlog Town after a tsunami destroyed over half the town, the event has since expanded to include diverse charities, all selected by the Elite Four member hosting the event. Last year's event raised over fifty million Pokédollars as Hoenn's Sidney challenged then-prospective Kanto-Johto Elite Four member Karen, with all proceeds going to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Pokémon._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And that is eight. The concept for the battle was inspired by Juan's two-battles-in-one-battle idea, only this was based on weather, not the battle format. Too bad about that x5 Fire weakness for parasect, but LeeAnn was committed to the theme and guessed ludicolo could protect it, or knock the vulpix out.

Pokédollars are analogous to the real life Japanese Yen. Fifty million Yen is quite a sum of money, but it's nowhere near fifty million US dollars.


	19. Chapter 19: Meeting

******Disclaimer:****** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this

* * *

 **Chapter 19:** **Meeting**

When Ash had said he'd get them tickets, Max hadn't expected to be seated in one of the stadium's luxurious sky boxes. It seated about 30 people, and Max didn't even recognise half the people in there. Those he did recognise were really important people, like some high-up politician, Phoebe, or Cory, Hoenn's Steel-type Gym Leader.

He also felt ridiculously underdressed. Their clothing was nice enough, but everyone else was wearing suits and evening dresses. They certainly got a few weird looks, mostly aimed at him. Danny had, apparently – and how had Max not known this – taken a sports jacket with him, which he'd put on for the occasion.

Strong arms enveloped him from behind, squeezing him tight as someone leant into him. "Hey little brother," May greeted, and when Max turned around, he saw his sister, dressed appropriately in a deep blue, sparkly, dress – probably something she'd bought for a Contest – alongside a woman he'd seen more than a few times, yet met only twice or so.

"Oh, you still look the same as a year ago, Max," Delia Ketchum, wearing a reddish-pink dress, said, "but you also look so much more mature. Being on a journey is great, isn't it?" She held out a hand, and Max shook it. "And you must be Professor Birch's nephew. Danny, wasn't it? I'm Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother."

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, call me Delia. Ma'am makes me feel old and I always have to check twice to see if someone's talking to me." She looked around, eyeing the refreshment bar and the seats. "Nice of Ash to get us these seats, wasn't it?"

"Someone wasn't expecting it," May added in a teasing tone, grinning when Max glowered in her direction. "You're waaaay underdressed, Max."

"Kind of short notice, May. Only found out Ash was in this two days back, and I wasn't expecting… this." Max gestured with his hand. "I was expecting some regular seats lower down."

"And I'm fairly sure your fancy clothing is with Mum and Dad."

Max tried to resist the urge to glare at his sister, but certain things in life were inevitable. This was one of them. "That too." There was general movement in the direction of the chairs. "Welp, it's starting."

The next hour was amazing. Max had been up close with Legendaries, seen Ash fight Brandon at equal footing more than once, and he'd watched a ton of battles in the months between coming home and leaving, but this was on a different level entirely, reminding Max of Glacia's recent battle with Steven Stone. There was no holding back, no mercy given. Strategies were formed, changed, dismissed in the time Max took to understand them. Orders were just simple words, half a word, transmitted into the box via radio, but those words held so much meaning to trainer and Pokémon.

Max got shivers all over when Ash led with pikachu and called for a Thunder attack that outright stopped a dragonite's Hyper Beam. Heracross brawled with a haxorus, and the brawling continued as torterra and druddigon took the field. Weavile darted over the field, agilely avoiding tyrantrum's powerful attacks, and the best was saved for last. First, they were treated to an aerial dogfight as swellow and a flygon clashed, and then to a battle in air and on land as Drake's starter Salamence faced off against charizard.

The final score was a well-deserved tie.

The applause was thunderous as the two trainers walked to the middle of the very damaged arena and shook hands, and as the applause continued, the lights gradually dimmed, until all that was left was background lighting and a spotlight on the two trainers.

Drake launched into a speech about why he'd chosen this charity, and how thankful he was for everyone coming, watching, donating to a cause so near to his heart. He spoke of seeing children in hospitals, covered in wires, electrodes, dwarfed by even the smallest hospital beds, and the feeling of helplessness their parents felt when their children were going through a bad seizure. It was a side Max hadn't expected to see in the rough man. Ash too, shared a story, about a girl in his class when he was nine, something that caused Delia to mutter something Max didn't catch.

The lights dimmed as both trainers bowed deeply, and when they came back on, amidst another round of thunderous applause, neither of them were on the field any longer.

Max flexed his hands as people started filing out of the box. He'd been clapping a ton, and his hands hurt, but it was worth it. So worth it. What he'd seen had been amazing, and from the mutters he heard, most people agreed with that. He turned to the exit, only to not see the rest of his group. "Over here Max," May called, standing near the… bar? What? Max walked over to them, and May practically shoved a drink into his hands. The cold glass was very soothing, almost painfully so. "We need to wait a bit."

Max's question of why went unanswered, and a shared look with Danny told him that his friend was just as confused. Most people filed out, then some people filed in from the other exit, proceeding to file out again moments later. Max thought they came from the other sky box. A few of them stayed behind, and Max saw Sidney in that group, joining Phoebe as they talked about something over a drink.

A League official rapped his knuckles on the door, silencing the talk of all eight people there. "If you would follow me," he said, stepping out the door.

Max followed, last in line, as the official led them past the exit, into the stadium catacombs. Bleak light reflected on light-green tiles and walls, and footsteps echoed while the sounds of people leaving the stadium filtered through from above.

It felt like an age before the official stopped in front of a door. Max could see there was a sign on the door, but he couldn't see what it said. Before he could move to be able to read it, the door opened, and the official waved them in.

They entered a large room with various chairs and tables, and a look out over Lilycove's harbour at the far end. In the centre of the room, Drake and Ash stood next to a table filled with drinks and snacks.

Delia stepped up to hug Ash first, and the Petalburg trio kept their distance, smiling fondly, as they watched the two interact. Besides them, Drake was talking to the two people Max didn't know by name. The man looked familiar, though, but Max couldn't place it until he heard Drake call the man his son.

Then, Delia waved them over, and they too joined Ash as the two groups moved apart a bit. "Hey guys," Ash said, hugging May and shaking Max and Danny's hands in turn. "Did ya like it?"

"It was amazing!" Max blurted out, loud enough that he saw Phoebe turn her head. Max's face started burning nearly immediately. "Uh, sorry."

Ash and May looked like they were trying not to laugh, while Danny didn't even try. It took a slug to the shoulder for him to stop. "Glad you enjoyed it," Ash said, ruffling Max's hair. "Training with Drake has really helped me."

"As training with you helped me," Drake interjected as he walked up. "Ms. Ketchum, Danny, Max, May," he greeted, nodding to them. "You are probably familiar with my colleagues, Phoebe and Sidney, but allow me to introduce my son and daughter in law, Aiden and Alicia. Their son, my grandson, Owen, is one of the children I spoke of."

"Father overstates it," Aiden said as he stepped forward to shake hands with everyone, starting with May. At a closer look, the man did look a lot like his father, only with black hair instead of grey. "Luckily, Owen's epilepsy has been limited until now, and the doctors have good hope that the seizures will fade as he ages."

"How old is your son now?" Delia asked. "He must be young not to be here. I'm not sure I could've kept Ash away from any of this from the age of five onwards."

Most of the room chuckled at Ash's expense, and even Drake couldn't resist a small grin. "He's nearly four now," Alicia said, "and yes, he really wanted to come and see his Papa battle. Unfortunately, we live in Fallarbor, and Teleport is discouraged for children with epilepsy. He's with my parents now, and I'm sure they let him watch everything."

"That they did," Drake confirmed. "They let Owen call me, just before you came in. I'm not sure I understood most of what he said. It was all rather fast, enthusiastic, and sleepy, all at the same time." That set off another round of chuckles. "In any event, one of my colleagues has been eyeing the refreshments for some time now. I suggest we help her, and partake in what Lilycove Stadium has brought here."

Phoebe, for her part, failed to blush at all at Drake's words, though she did stick her tongue out at her fellow Elite Four member, something that amused Max greatly. She was the youngest Elite Four member, but even then, she was nearly thirty.

Everyone just started mingling around the refreshment table, and Max quickly found that Sidney and Phoebe, while Elite Four members, were just as human as any other big name trainer he'd met, and they didn't care that he was twelve and a beginning trainer when he asked them about some stuff that was probably simple to them. Alicia, too, was easy to talk to, though he didn't talk to Aiden, who was always talking to someone else. It was just like a family gathering, only better because there was nearly no chance of someone bringing up something embarrassing.

Max was halfway through his second glass of some sweet, non-alcoholic he'd explicitly been told, drink when he saw Danny stand off to the side. May, Ash, and Delia were off talking to Aiden, with Drake and Sidney looking out the window. "Hey, I haven't seen your friend talk too much," Phoebe said as she stepped up beside him. "What's with him?" Before Max could answer, Phoebe spoke up again. "Oh, doesn't matter. Let's go!"

Max followed Phoebe, amused, as she walked straight to Danny, who was staring off at the outside, or maybe at Drake and Sidney. Max didn't know. The Elite Four member tapped Danny's right shoulder, and laughed when Danny fell for the old trick by looking right instead of left, where she was. "Hi. Danny Birch, wasn't it? I've heard of you. I heard you have a dusclops."

"Casper?" Max asked.

"Yep," Phoebe said, popping the p. "We keep in touch, and Casper told me he'd seen a twelve-year-old with a dusclops. Evolved on Mt. Pyre no less. Symbolic." She smiled at Danny. "They're rare, you know. You'll probably be one of maybe three trainers at the Ever Grande conference to have one."

"Really? They're that rare?" Danny wondered.

"Yep. People read into the Pokédex entries too much. More fool they, I suppose." The Elite Four member lifted a wedge of savoury cake from the nearby table, taking a small bite. "Do you have dusclops on you? Can you show me?" Phoebe added when Danny nodded.

"Sure, go ahead."

Max saw a few people turn around at the distinctive sound of a Pokéball opening, but nobody approached them as Phoebe walked around the dusclops. "Newly evolved, bit uncomfortable still," Phoebe muttered. "That'll pass, don't worry." She put a hand on the Ghost's hand. "May I?"

"Sure?" Danny said, sounding confused at Phoebe's request.

Max didn't know what she meant with it either, but then he saw Phoebe close her eyes, a calm, focused expression coming over her face, one that reminded him of Anabel. "No way..."

His soft, amazed, words caused Phoebe to smile slightly, or maybe it was something she learnt from dusclops. Moments later, she opened her eyes again. "What did you do?" Danny asked.

"Communed," was Phoebe's one-word answer.

"Communed?" Danny echoed. "What's that?"

"She can talk to Pokémon," Max said softly, in awe. "I saw it before. In Kanto," he added when Danny and Phoebe looked at him, both surprised to some degree.

"Was that Anabel, or did you run into Sabrina while in Kanto with Ash?" Phoebe asked.

"Anabel," Max answered. "One of the Kanto Frontier Brains," he added for Danny. "She used telepathy to give orders to her Pokémon in battle, and to talk to them outside of battle."

"I'm not nearly as good," Phoebe admitted. "And it only works for Ghosts. But what I got from dusclops is that she respects, trusts, loves her trainer, and that she hopes she won't be forced to go against him." She turned to Danny. "Forced? I'm not sure I got that right. Translating is hard sometimes. Anyway, she's also hoping to meet another Ghost on the team soon." The Elite Four member cocked her head slightly. "If you want, I can point you to good locations for Ghosts that aren't Mt. Pyre, if you want to get more Ghosts on your team."

"No, no, it's not that," Danny hastily said. "It's just that Max gave me a Dawn Stone and –"

"You have a female snorunt," Phoebe finished for him, just before she finished off her slice of cake. "Great cake. You should try some." She offered the plate to the pre-teens, and Danny took a slice, looking very confused. Max refused: he'd tried it, and found it wasn't to his taste. "So, froslass. Not the easiest Ghost-type if you catch them, but evolving them with permission works better. Glacia has two: one evolved, one caught, and let me tell you, that's a night-and-day difference." She put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "You did ask snorunt what she wanted, right?"

Max remembered Danny asking that, and snorunt's reaction had been very positive, to the point of jumping onto the closed box. "Yeah. It's just… Stone evolutions are supposed to be hard to train," Danny admitted. "People complain about them all the time to my uncle."

"Ah, but most people your age do not ask," Phoebe told them. "They're just 'hey, I can make my Pokémon become stronger. Let's do that!' in their thoughts, and they don't think about what a Pokémon wants. I have a lampent that doesn't want to evolve, so I keep him away from all Fire Stones, and Ash has pikachu, of course. But I also have an aegislash – Kalos Pokémon, Ghost-Steel – and she jumped at the chance. Pokémon are just like humans: some of them want something, others don't." She smiled, doing a small shrug. "Sorry for the lecture. It's something I've thought a bit about."

Whatever Max wanted to say was interrupted by a phone ringing. The Lilycove Stadium employee, who'd been in the room all the time, took it, listening as everyone else watched him, before turning to Max, Danny, and Phoebe. "Ms. Phoebe? Officer Jenny, urgent."

"Phoebe." The Elite Four member tensed. "Are you certain? How many?" Another pause. "Giratina beyond… I'm in Lilycove. I can't make it to Oldale before it stops, if it's anything like Rinshin." She let out a harsh sigh. "Understood. I'll be there as soon as I can." She ended the call. "Drake, need one of your Pokémon for transport!"

"Another Ghost rampage?" Drake asked as he fiddled with a Pokéball. "Here, take—"

"Father, she can use claydol," Aiden interrupted him, sending the evolved form of baltoy out. "We've been to Oldale before. Claydol can take you there."

"Aiden, if Alicia and Giacomo wouldn't kill me for it, I'd kiss you," Phoebe said as she walked up to the Psychic-type, catching a Pokéball as she did so. "Sidney?"

The Dark-type Master had also moved to the claydol, putting his hand on its head. "It's all Ghost types. You'd be a sitting ducklett if you want to commune. I can help you with that; give you time and space."

"Thank you," Phoebe said sincerely. "Drake, we'll return to this room. Can you stay here?"

"Go," Drake replied. "Don't hesitate to send claydol back for aid if you need it. It will be found here."

Two people and one Pokémon vanished, but the tense mood stayed. Off to the side, Max heard Ash quickly tell his mother what the problem was, and Drake had commandeered the phone the instant his colleagues had left, speaking quick, terse, words. He also heard the hum of a Pokémon returning to his right, and when he looked, Danny had returned dusclops. "Didn't seem appropriate, y'know."

"I hear ya."

"Listen up," Drake commanded, and everyone did. "I'm afraid this meeting will have to be cut short soon. Transportation to your lodgings will arrive in ten minutes, and someone will be here to escort you outside in five. You'll go out in groups of two," he added, looking at May and Delia. "It's safer for you to be in your hotel or in the Pokémon Center."

Max felt annoyance flare up. Sure, he understood why Drake wanted them out, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Danny and May seemed resigned to it, and for the sake of not making a scene, Max held his tongue, and few things were said until they went to bed in the Pokémon Center, half an hour after leaving the stadium in a taxi.

Sleep was okay, except Max inexplicably woke up at around two in the morning. He made to shift position and embrace sleep once more, but then, paper rustled.

They'd closed the windows because wind and heavy rain was supposed to come in overnight.

Opening his eyes, Max caught a glimpse of a moving dark patch near the door, but when he shone the Pokénav's display on the spot, he saw nothing except the door itself. As quiet as he could, he got out of bed. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had been there, but he couldn't see it.

Then, as he turned, he saw something on the desk. The previously completely empty desk.

It was a simple sheet of paper: the kind you'd find in a notebook. From the looks of it, it had been torn out of one. Max slipped his glasses on his nose, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and started reading it.

 _Danny Birch, Max Maple,_

Pokémon Center lounge, 11:15am.

 _P+S._

 _Froslass._

The short message was written in a flowing script that Max didn't know, but even with his mind slowed by recent sleep, he knew whose it was. He wondered why, but that wonder was short as a yawn reminded him it was the middle of the night. He double-checked the alarm – it was still set for eight-fifteen – and crawled back in his bed.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Phoebe thanked her lucky stars neither she nor Sidney had been accosted by fans en-route to the Center. It'd been a long and utterly confusing night, and one that had raised more questions than it had given answers. Questions she wanted answers to, but she wasn't sure where to start, except here, in the Lilycove Pokémon Center lounge. Nurse Joy had led them in via the rear entrance, and now they were waiting.

The clunk of a mug being set down in front of her jolted her out of her thoughts. Coffee with lots of milk, just the way she liked it, especially after four hours of sleep. If that. "You save lives, Sidney."

"I try," her fellow Elite Four member said as he sat his lanky frame down in one of the lazier chairs in the lounge, one of his absol by his side. Not the one on his challenger team, Phoebe thought. The tail was slightly off. "Why do you want to talk to them again? Y'think they know something about it all?"

Her haunter phased through her head, but a firm shake made him realise that now was not the time. "Maybe? I told you about the commune with Danny's dusclops. It didn't make sense, but after Oldale..." Ugh, that had been a nightmare. As soon as she'd sent out one of her Pokémon – a weaker gastly just for testing purposes – the Ghost had fallen victim to whatever madness possessed all the Ghosts in the area. Sidney had used most of his team to just stop people from getting hurt, while one of his mightyena had stayed with her, for her protection.

She hadn't been able to commune with her Pokémon while the madness was ongoing, but as soon as it lifted, about two hours after they got there, far, far past sundown, she had. She'd received many a scattered thought – apparently whatever happened scrambled whatever passed for Ghost brains – but the main idea was that it was against every Pokémon's will. She'd confirmed that with a boy's shuppet.

Too bad most politicians thought she was… best not to go there. Politics incensed her, and that wasn't something she needed right now. She wanted answers, not fights.

A knock on the door, and in walked the two boys. Neither of them appeared too surprised to see them, and Phoebe figured that one of them had realised who'd left the note. Either was an option; while she had spoken more with Max than with Danny, she couldn't shake the feeling both of them were pretty smart. "Morning Danny, Max. Punctual, I see," she said, eyeing the clock above the door they'd entered through. 11:15 on the dot.

"When the Elite Four calls, you answer," Max answered drily, to Phoebe's internal amusement. Smart-aleck comments were great. Both of them sat down, taking the two comfortable armchairs Sidney had put right in front of where Phoebe was sitting. "How'd it go?"

"Couple wounded, nothing serious. Not a lot of Ghosts in Oldale; a lot fewer than Rinshin's reports said," Sidney answered for them. "Fuel to the fire of some; second of its kind in a week."

"Yeah..." Danny said, and he looked a bit sad. "Uncle didn't have any answers either, and he looked like he was up all night."

"He probably was," Phoebe replied. "He was in the wake of Rinshin, and last night could've been as bad, and it's close to his lab." She shuddered, and wasn't surprised to see the boys make uncomfortable faces. If whatever did this happened at the laboratory, there'd be trouble. "But you're probably wondering why we wanted to talk to you. Well," she said, giving them no chance to reply, "it has to do with what I got from Danny's dusclops. She didn't want to be _forced_." Her eyes moved between the boys. "Before last night, I had no idea it was forced. So, how do two twelve year olds know more than two Elite Four members?"

Neither of them seemed overly inclined to answer, with Max sending uncomfortable looks Phoebe's way. Danny seemed more resigned. They turned to each other, and there was some non-verbal communication going on there for a moment or two. "Just tell them, Max."

"Everything?"

"Probably better."

The story that followed was obviously not one Max liked to share, not that Phoebe could blame him in any way for that, but it answered more than a few of her questions, even ones she didn't know she had had. It also reaffirmed her idea that the boys were pretty smart, or at least had a good memory. She remained silent, listening to them right up until the end, when her surprise overcame her need to listen. "Ninetales? _The_ Mt. Pyre ninetales?"

"Probably. Made me catch a vulpix and everything." Max sent out the vulpine Pokémon onto the table. It looked a bit surprised to be sent out here, but it was soon distracted by fingers going through its fur. "Heard of them?"

Oh had she ever. Wisps and bits of tales her grandmother had told her shot through her mind, as did tales Casper had told her over the years. They weren't the stories everyone with half a minute on search engines would know of. They were the myths, legends, factoids that spoke of the ninetales pair appearing to ask trainers a boon. _Willing_ trainers. "Yep. Sorry about interrupting."

"It's okay. I'm done anyway. Hope it's enough."

"Enough?" Sidney echoed, reminding everyone he was still there. "Y'told us more than anyone else did. Want a drink? Chocolate?" Nods saw Sidney leave the room, though absol stayed.

They lapsed into silence, Max drawing comfort from his vulpix, Danny being distracted by haunter, and Phoebe sought to corral her thoughts, and to correct her assessment of the boys in front of her, again, for the second time inside fifteen hours, when she'd first learned who Ash's two last-minute invitees were.

She should really make a point of visiting their matches in the League. Actually… "Where are you off to now? Collecting badges? Only two months to the League."

"We're done already," Danny told her, and something must've shown on her face, because he grinned. "Yeah, it's fast. Still did it."

"Six months and eight badges?" She whistled, impressed. "That's mighty fast. I'll be sure to try and visit your matches, then, see what you can do." Sidney entered at that point. "Hey, Sidney, guess how many badges they have."

"Eight," her colleague and closest friend on the Elite Four replied as he put two mugs of hot chocolate and a mug of coffee down on the table. He went for an unmarked bottle of clear liquid himself. _Probably_ water, but Phoebe never knew with him. "Looked it up. You were telling gengar where to go last night. I did that."

"Your gengar delivered the note?" Max asked. "I knew I saw something."

"Did she wake you?" It had been two when Phoebe had sent her off, and two-thirty when she'd returned. "I'm sorry if that happened."

"Eh. No need. I sleep light."

"A useful skill for any trainer," said Sidney. "Though some here don't quite see it that way."

Oh, that infuriating smirk on his face. "My ghosts kept me safer than a bank vault at night," Phoebe retorted. "At least I have an actual sleeping schedule. You just sleep whenever."

"Sleep is sleep. It happens when it happens. No need to force myself into regularity." He took another sip of water. "But when I was your age, I slept regularly. It's much easier and better for growing bodies," he added for Max and Danny, to Phoebe's internal relief. At least he wasn't going to infest them with his insomniac bug. She wasn't even sure he'd slept at all.

"Moving on," Phoebe said as she stirred her coffee. "Froslass. Danny, did you have time to think after the interruption last night?" Hah, interruption. Understatement of the year, that. "I think you'd be fine."

"I did, actually," Danny said, addressing Max with the last bit. The younger – Phoebe thought – boy replied with a stuck-out tongue. "I'll do it."

"Great! Send her out and we'll do it right here." Danny looked a bit sheepish at that. "Oh, go get the Dawn Stone first. It's kind of essential."

One retrieved evolutionary stone, a moved table and chairs, and three returned Pokémon later, Danny re-entered the room. "Whatcha do that for?"

"Safety, and a better look at it," Phoebe replied. She felt a bit giddy: watching a Pokémon evolve was always great to see, and it was even better when it involved one of her type. "Come on, send her out already!"

The snorunt was plain adorable. She really should get on with catching one, or maybe beg an Egg off of Glacia. She watched as Danny explained – clearly, concisely, and with obvious respect and love for his Pokémon – that yes, he was going to use the Dawn Stone on her, which caused the Ice-type to hug Danny's leg tightly, fondly, for just a moment. "Wait for me to step back, then go for it."

He put the Dawn Stone down in the middle of the empty floor space, and barely made it three steps back before the snorunt jumped on the Stone with a joyous cry. Immediately, the white of an evolutionary glow enveloped her.

As the bubble of energy grew larger, Phoebe felt the heavy, ethereal presence of a nearby Ghost emerge, concurrent with a vague, but insistent wailing sound, though not from sorrow or misery. Pain, perhaps, but pain mixed with joy; a symphony Phoebe could gladly dance to as the feeling she was so familiar with, of a Ghost nearby, fully settled in the room, even if the evolution was still ongoing.

A shape appeared. First came the mask-like head, topped with the two icy crystals that differed from froslass to froslass. Then the arms attained shape, held almost perpendicular to the head and soon-to-be body, which coalesced moments later, ending in the footless bottom as she rose into the air, still glowing for a moment more.

The evolution stopped, and motes of light burst outwards as the froslass was fully visible. She floated easily, her head at eye-level with her trainer for a moment before she, and he, carefully hugged to the best of their ability, and Phoebe had no need of communing to divine the feelings Pokémon and trainer shared. The joy was palpable.

With thanks, and mugs of chocolate in hand, the boys left, off to do whatever. Phoebe and Sidney spent a few minutes rearranging the room back to its former self in silence, but that wasn't to last. "Got your answers?"

"Plenty," Phoebe replied. "And ideas of where to get more of them." And maybe chew them out. If that head of the local G-men hadn't played the cards so close to their chest, Phoebe and Sidney could've been a lot more prepared. Then again, that secrecy thing was the main reason Phoebe never much liked them in the first place, so maybe she was biased. "I think we'll have to get Ash to tell us where to get them. Don't want to go all the way to the top."

"Lance'd probably listen," Sidney replied with a shrug, taking a swig out of a hip flask that definitely held something alcoholic. If he noticed her glare, he elected to ignore it with long-standing ease. "I always wondered who the local head was. Lay a bet?"

"Terms?"

"A reasonably priced gift of the winner's choice at the loser's expenses."

Sounded reasonable enough. "Deal. Two guesses?"

Eight hours later, Phoebe graciously accepted a beautiful glass-blown statuette of a froslass.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _[…] I am not at all confident in our government, which is gratuitously and gleefully ignoring the hurt and harm done by the attacks around the country. Twenty-eight wounded, three seriously, in Rinshin, and mere luck left Oldale standing. I applaud my friends in the Centrist party for tabling this motion of no confidence, regardless of its result._

-Lord Cavendish, former member of Hoenn's parliament, October 3rd.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Even Elite Four members can't do without sheer dumb luck. Ask anyone who's been on the wrong end of a crucial critical before.


	20. Chapter 20: Power

******Disclaimer:****** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Power**

Max and Danny stepped off the boat that had taken them from Pacifidlog to Dewford, grumpy and more than a bit tired. The ferry had been delayed by ten hours due to nasty weather, leading to a 6am disembark, and though the weather had cleared up slightly – it would last for about ten minutes according to the ship's announcement system five minutes ago – heavy winds still whipped at their coats, making Max duck his head into the coat collar again.

He rubbed his eyes for what felt like the fourth time in five minutes as they, and the thirty-odd other ferry passengers, shuffled along in a daze, down the dark pier, into the arrivals hall. He groaned as the harsh fluorescent lighting replaced the pre-dawn darkness; the contrast really annoying, and he dragged Danny along to a pair of empty seats. "Ugh."

Danny hummed agreement, and unceremoniously dropped into the seat, only to realise his pack was still on his back. "Stupid storms," he said as he placed his pack on the floor, and then sat down, slumping into his seat.

Now it was Max's turn to hum agreement as he sat down, without the issues Danny had had, picking up a flyer for something. "Anything you want to do today?"

"Sleep." Danny let out an exaggerated yawn that turned into a real one. "Might take a nap."

"A nap? What are you, three?" Max mocked. "But if you want to, sure, I'll let you."

"I'm going to laugh so hard if you fall asleep just after dinner." A wave of rain clattered against the windows, and people shuffled in quickly. "Doesn't look like we'll be leaving any time soon. Wake me up when it stops raining."

Max was tempted to take a marker pen and doodle all over Danny's face, especially when his friend's breathing evened out, but he decided not to. Danny did look like he needed the sleep, what with the boat travel of the last few days and the worse-than-usual autumn weather.

They'd travelled from Mossdeep to Dewford in what should've been two days and three boats. They had decided to take Brawly up on his offer, made back in the Rustboro Gym, and this allowed them to go back to Petalburg at the start of November for Max's Dad's fortieth birthday, and to get to Littleroot for Professor Birch's forty-second one in mid November. For now, they were due to spend two weeks on Dewford Island, though the holiday of sorts hadn't exactly started well.

At half past seven in the evening, Max and Danny found themselves walking towards a set of coordinates just outside of Dewford. Brawly had dropped by earlier in the Center as he was giving Nurse Joy some of his Pokémon, telling them they should come there for a special treat. It was about half an hour's walk away from the Center, though muddy roads made that a bit longer.

Annoyingly, Max felt a tiny bit tired, Danny's words of that morning coming sort of true. The fresh night air and the smell of recently fallen rain did help to keep him awake.

"Hey there little dudes!" The Dewford Gym Leader jumped down from a low branch just as Max and Danny turned a corner on the path. Light of his electric torch momentarily flashing in Max's eyes. "Good to see ya again."

"We saw each other this afternoon, Brawly," Max said, rolling his eyes at the Gym Leader, who merely laughed.

"But you didn't see me, then," came another voice, one Max felt he should recognise. Danny aimed their torch in the direction of the voice, revealing a grey-haired man in his early thirties, wearing casual, but expensive clothing. "Though I can't exactly walk into most Pokémon Centers nilly-willy these days. There's a certain hype, I think the word is." The man cast his companion a calculating look. "At least, that's what Brawly tells me."

"It's not every day a former Champion wants to get their title back, Steven," Brawly replied, grinning widely. "And certainly not with such a show of force against the rest of the Elite Four. Even Drake could barely stand against you. It was amazing." He turned to Max and Danny once more. "Boys, allow me to introduce Steven Stone, former and future Hoenn Grand Champion. Steven, these are—"

"Max Maple and Danny Birch," Steven finished smoothly. "So we meet again. I trust you are well?" he asked, to silent nods. "Before we continue, I would prefer it if you could give your word to not reveal what you see here until my battle against Wallace. I'd prefer to keep my ace hidden until the night of November first."

"We'll shut up," Danny said, and Max mimed zipping his mouth shut. "I thought your metagross was your ace?"

"It is." With that cryptic statement, Steven and Brawly started walking, and the boys hurried to catch up, though they didn't need to. A secluded clearing held several Pokémon, all part psychic-type, a perimeter of burning torches, and a hastily drawn set of boundary lines. "Before we begin, have you ever heard of Mega Evolution?"

" _Mega_ Evolution?" Max echoed. "No, can't say I have." Next to him, Danny shook his head in the negative as well.

"I'd be surprised if you had," Steven said with a gentle smile. "It's a new and rare discovery from far away Kalos, and only a few Trainers and Pokémon are capable of it. And what it is?" The smile turned secretive. "It's a way for some fully evolved Pokémon to temporarily evolve even further."

"Fully evolved… temporarily..." Max stammered, any traces of tiredness suddenly gone from his mind. "What?"

"I know. It just breaks all the rules on evolution, does it not?" Steven asked, though he didn't wait for an answer. "But it is that. It's a boost in power, and a change in appearance, which is exactly like evolution, except it is quite unlike evolution because it's temporary." He took something from his shirt pocket, revealing a pin with a stone set in it. "This is a Key Stone."

Max took the offered silver pin as Danny shone a little light on it. The Key Stone was perfectly round, almost like a large marble, with a weird symbol etched inside the glass-like material. The colours flowed from yellow to green to blue and back to green and yellow, smoothly. "What does it do? Trigger the Mega Evolution?"

"In part." Steven held out his hand, and Max gave the pin back. In exchange, he got a larger marble, about the size of a shrunken Pokéball. This one was darker: brown-ish black, with the same symbol within. This time, the symbol had been filled in: half black, half red. "That is a Mega Stone. This allows a specific Pokémon to Mega Evolve in conjunction with the Key Stone and a special bond."

"Special bond?" Danny echoed.

"A bond of absolute and unshakable trust, of whatever kind," Steven answered as Max gave the Mega Stone back. "But enough theory. Let's show them. Brawly?"

"Might want to stand back, dudes. This is going to get loud."

They weren't idiots, and both boys hastily retreated to the pair of metang and the medicham. The moment they were there, those same Psychic Pokémon started glowing, throwing up shields around the edge of the arena. "Ready when you are," Steven called as he threw a yellow and black ball; an Ultra Ball. It revealed the Pokémon Max and Danny had seen pulverise Glacia three weeks back: his shiny metagross. This time, Max immediately noticed something different. A dark grey band had been tied around one of its legs, and in it was a pale blue stone, the Mega Stone contrasting with the silvery-grey of the Pokémon.

Brawly, for his part, sent out another part Steel-type Pokémon: a lucario that he sent out high in the air, allowing for the Aura Pokémon to do a front flip before landing with a loud thud, one hand to the ground. "Physical moves only!"

"Sure," Steven called back calmly. "Metagross, you ready?"

The metagross rumbled agreement, before closing its eyes.

"Let it begin!"

Two points shimmered with light: Steven's pin, now held in his hand, and the Mega Stone on metagross's leg. The first glowed yellow, while the second was clear blue. Both shimmers expanded, sending tendrils outward.

The beams met, turning yellow and blue tendrils into a pale, harsh, yellow, close to white, net that almost seemed to burst out of control. Loud crackling obscured Steven's voice just enough that Max couldn't hear what he said, just _that_ he said something.

A brilliant flash shot from the pin, blinding Max. When he reopened his eyes, he saw spots, and a Pokémon aglow with beautiful pale red light, and it morphed. Legs moved position as the metagross left the ground, hovering on its own accord without visible use of Psychic or electromagnetic aid. The cross on its face changed colour, from yellow to something darker, and its legs now stretched in front of the main body, rather than below it.

It was undeniably metagross, but it was very different at the same time.

Lucario tensed its legs before running in, using Agility to blur its movements, but every single punch it launched was blocked with metallic clangs. Front, back, from above, even one from below: all were blocked with childish ease, and it didn't look like the lucario was holding back. More like the opposite.

Steven ordered one attack, prompting metagross to apply a blue glow to two of its arms, and the shielding Pokémon to intensify the shields to the point that they gave everything on the field a blue tinge.

The Earthquake still threw Max off his feet, though he was able to catch himself before smacking face-first into the ground. Lucario hadn't been as lucky, and it was lying on the floor, knocked out.

"Bit more fire power than I was expecting, Steven!" Brawly called good-naturedly as he returned the lucario. "Let's see you take on these two!"

The heracross and hitmontop combo also fell to metagross, though it was more of a contest than before. Not that that was particularly hard. Max didn't think the metagross was ever in trouble, but the limitation of only physical moves was a bit of a nuisance, and Brawly's Pokémon were fast enough to avoid the more obvious heavy hits that metagross was dishing out.

The ground couldn't get out of the way, and the field sported six new craters by the practice battle's end. Metagross coming down from its Mega Evolution added a seventh, just before Steven returned it. "And that's Mega Evolution," the former Champion said as he walked up, returning the two metang as well. "As you saw, it is quite powerful."

Max and Brawly both laughed. "Quite powerful, he says," Brawly stated, before letting out one last laugh. "Dudes, those Pokémon weren't my weaker, like the ones I would've used against you. They're all contenders for my best team, and they were washed out like it was nothing."

"So..." Danny said as a silence fell, "these Mega Stones are from Kalos?"

"Found them in an excavation near Geosenge Town, in the north-west of the region," Steven confirmed. "Beautiful region, very different from Hoenn, with Pokémon from all over the world."

"Other side of the world, dudes. It's literally a whole new world there," Brawly added as they started the trek back to Dewford proper. "I think their League's in, like, half a month. You should try to watch some of the recordings. Who knows, maybe you'll see more Mega Evolutions."

"What Pokémon can Mega Evolve anyway?" Danny wondered. "Do you know what Pokémon that other Mega Stone is for?"

Steven shook his head. "Mega Evolutions are new, Mega Stones are rare, and Key Stones are very rare. I know of..." The man trailed off, and Max heard him count under his breath. "Six Trainers with a Mega Evolution capable Pokémon. Besides me, of course."

"Who?"

"Well," Steven said in response to Max's question, "there's Siebold and Drasna, both Elite Four members. Siebold has a Mega blastoise, and Drasna has a Mega altaria." He chuckled. "Mega altaria have the weirdest typing. Dragon and Fairy." He let out another chuckle as he saw the face Max was making. "Yes, rather contradictory. Anyway, the local Professor – Professor Sycamore – has a Mega garchomp, and the Champion has a Mega gardevoir."

"And the last two?" Max asked when Steven didn't continue.

"I don't recall their names offhand. I just know they have a Mega manectric and a Mega abomasnow."

"Hey Max, maybe you'll find that Mega Stone for manectric. Wouldn't that be something."

 **~~§~~§~~**

A few days after the revelation that Mega Evolution existed – and Max still had trouble wrapping his head around the concept – the two boys sat in the middle of the forest west of Dewford, eating a few berries. "Did dusclops get used to her..."

"Her lack of movement?" Danny finished before taking one last bite to finish his snack. "Think we have it worked out. You mind helping with manectric later?"

"Course not!" Max made to finish his own food, but before he could do that, a sharp jab on his hand made him drop his berry, right into a bird's beak. "Hey! That's mine!"

The bird hopped onto a nearby branch, and the instant Max recognised the green Pokémon, he got up. Unfortunately, the natu had already started hopping to other nearby trees. "Follow me!" he called.

Danny asked him why, but Max didn't answer, intent on capturing the natu. He liked the Tiny Bird Pokémon, but they weren't common in Hoenn, only really living in the Safari Zone in any numbers. He wasn't going to give up a chance to catch one now, and he gave chase.

The natu knew it was being chased, and that Max was faster, so it did the only thing it could to slow Max down: attack him. Vaguely ball-shaped energy flew at Max, who dropped to the ground immediately, getting a face full of leaves for his trouble. The energy passed overhead, leaving behind a chill in the air, and giving natu another two trees distance before Max got up again.

The natu led him deeper into the forest, and more than once, Max had to tread carefully to avoid snagging his feet on slippery or oversized roots. The Tiny Bird occasionally shot off more of the cold attacks – Hidden Power Ice? - but after the first time, Max saw it coming, allowing him to sidestep rather than drop to the ground. Still, between the roots, the attacks, and the sudden turns natu made, he made slow, if any, gains, during the next few minutes.

Sliding down an incline, he saw the natu prepare another attack; one he couldn't dodge. Max braced himself for the attack.

Cold. Unearthly cold, no warmth, nothing, void.

Max staggered through the Ominous Wind, resuming his chase, but he knew he couldn't take a lot of that. His legs felt heavier than they had before, and it wasn't just the running he'd done. The weight was unnatural, settled inside his legs themselves, not his muscles. He took an empty Pokéball from his belt.

The natu saw Max do that, and countered by jumping onto higher branches that were often shielded from a good throw. The forest was thinning, though, and soon, Max knew the natu wouldn't be able to hide any longer. It did keep up the Hidden Power barrages, but they were easy to avoid.

The trees ran out, and Max slammed into what felt like a brick wall, knocking the wind out of him. Upon opening his eyes, he saw the world tinged with Psychic blue, a moment before the sound started.

Loud, dissonant, many-voiced, unintelligible sound roared in Max's head, drowning out most thought, threatening to revert him to pure emotion. The part that was still able to think recognised the cacophony as a Confusion attack, but his headache mounted rapidly, and moving was so damn hard…

Grunting, heaving, putting everything into moving his arm. A whoosh, and sudden freedom that resulted in Max landing face-first on the ground again. The natu escaped from the Pokéball after a few seconds, but those few seconds were long enough for Max to send out manectric from his weird position on the ground. "Thunder Wave!"

The natu hopped away from the electric attack, trying to reach the trees it had abandoned just before attacking Max, but manectric moved between it and the trees, forcing it to stand and fight. A Hidden Power met another Thunder Wave, the latter overpowering the former, but to little effect on natu. "Discharge!"

Max had to dodge out of the way of another jolt of electricity, but the indiscriminate attack hit natu mid-hop, dropping it to the ground unceremoniously. Without delay, Max threw his Pokéball again. He hit the target, and hoped for the best.

Seven shakes later, the natu gave up.

Max sat down, panting heavily as he watched the Pokéball vanish. "Thanks girl," he got out as manectric walked over, laying her head on his thigh. "Great as always."

He made to call Danny, but saw an unwelcome message on the screen. "Dead battery? Really?" He let out a deep sigh. "Well, wait for masquerain to find us then."

Manectric barked happy agreement, but her bark turned to a growl, and she rose to her feet with electricity running over her fur. "What is it gi… Oh, shit."

Standing close-by, looking a tiny bit harmed, and very annoyed, were two ursaring. The bears let out mighty roars that sent chills down Max's spine, and they launched themselves forward.

Max rolled out of the way as manectric let out another ferocious Discharge to hold them back. It did, but the roars were even louder now, and one of the ursaring immediately went for the canine Pokémon, claws glowing. "Grovyle, baltoy, help manectric!"

Grovyle deflected the first ursaring's claws with a quick Leaf Blade, but that was all he did: deflect. Another glowing arm came in, and grovyle blocked this hit, requiring both arms, lit with Leaf Blade, and even then, Max saw his starter skid back a tiny bit. "Not good," he muttered.

The second ursaring managed to land a heavy hit on manectric, prompting a loud yelp that was drowned out by the angry howl of that same ursaring catching a rock with its face.

Grovyle launched a Bullet Seed, but that did nothing to slow his opponent down, and he had to jump over a Hammer Arm that almost buried itself in the ground. Baltoy's Confusion met the same indifference, and only another Discharge by manectric – grovyle was not close, Max saw it coming, and baltoy didn't care – drove them back for a few seconds.

Worse, one of the ursaring had crackles running over its body; yellow crackles mixed with a harsh red aura. Max swore, loudly. He didn't need Guts on top of everything. At least it was slower. "Focus the red ursaring!"

That plan, too, went out the window as all the attacks – Bullet Seed, Ancientpower, Thunder Wave – were intercepted by a light blue ball of energy that caused everyone, Max included, to scatter. The Focus Blast missed everyone, though the explosion made it hard to see for a few seconds, and in those seconds, Max heard a loud yelp come from his manectric, followed by the sound of a body hitting a solid object.

"Bagon, Dragon Pulse, now!" Max ordered quickly as he sought to locate the where manectric had been thrown off to. There! He returned manectric just in time, as the deflected Dragon Pulse buried itself into the large rock that manectric had slammed into. "Shit. Dragon Rage and Ancientpower the left one! Grovyle, distract!"

The left, Guts-boosted, ursaring roared a challenge as it swept its claws around, trying to hit the Grass-type that was darting around it and its partner. The right ursaring tried to form another Focus Blast, but grovyle nicking it on the arm put paid to that, though the resultant kick to grovyle's midsection was less welcome. As was the Hammer Arm that he flew into.

Max returned grovyle before he could slam into the ground.

At least the other attacks hit home, with the Ancientpower hitting the ursaring in the face, and the Dragon Rage hitting it in the torso. It was, apparently, enough to knock the paralysed bear to the ground.

The following bellow of pure rage almost paralysed Max and his Pokémon. Almost, because they all had the presence of mind to dodge the Focus Blast on pure instinct. Max was closest to the blast, and he felt himself nearly leave the ground as the shock wave threatened to get under him to lift him up, but it didn't. Luckily.

Baltoy was less lucky. It had dodged a bit too close to the ursaring, and Max knew where that was heading, even before it happened.

One baltoy slammed into the same rock as manectric later, Max sent out his remaining two Pokémon, a sinking feeling in his legs and stomach. This was going horribly wrong, and running was out of the question. Unless he could paralyse the other ursaring, he wouldn't be able to get away. They were decently fast, and he was still breathing heavily after breaking the Confusion. Even throwing a Pokéball wouldn't help. The conscious ursaring would break out in half a second, and only end up more enraged for it. "Metronome, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse!"

The Dragon Pulse missed as ursaring loped in, but the Flamethrower slowed it down long enough for clefairy to let out a loud screech, a pair of blue rings hitting the ursaring dead-on.

The ursaring didn't care, and came perilously close to hitting vulpix. Max scrambled backward, putting distance between him and the ursaring, but when he did so, he saw something unwelcome.

The other ursaring was stirring.

"Shit." He looked at the field, where clefairy had summoned yellow balls of energy with another Metronome. They hit, but the bear didn't care. "Vulpix, the other ursaring!"

Prone Pokémon couldn't dodge a Flamethrower, but vulpix, too, paid for that, as the raging ursaring barrelled into it in something like a Double Edge attack. Miraculously, vulpix got up after the attack, but Max wasn't counting on her doing much up close any longer.

For the first time in jirachi knew how long, he felt panic start to stir in his stomach. He chanced a glance at the tree line he'd come from, but he saw no masquerain or Danny. "Where are you..." he muttered as bagon and clefairy delivered a double salvo of Dragon Rage and Disarming Voice. Bagon's attack was off-target, but actually hit the ursaring vulpix had set on fire a moment ago. Clefairy's attack was powerful enough to disrupt a barely-formed Focus Blast.

Clefairy glanced back at him as vulpix shot out a curtain of fire to temporarily cut the ursaring off from the other Pokémon; her last act before collapsing. Max saw calm, grim determination etched in the Fairy-type's face. "Metronome," he ordered as he returned the completely spent vulpix.

The Mega Drain hit, taking some energy before the ursaring could sever the tendrils. It roared loudly once more before breaking out in a lope, claws glowing, heading straight for Max.

Bagon slammed into the bear's midriff, somehow getting out of there fast enough to avoid retaliation. Max's eyes met bagon's, and here, too, he saw nothing but grim determination, but with a hint of something else. Something… feral.

Energy surged within Max, but he shook his head, trying to keep the foreign emotions at bay. He needed wits, not instinct.

Meanwhile, the ursaring still wasn't out. How strong was this Pokémon?

Harsh chilly winds filled the field, to bagon's and ursaring's vocal displeasure. Max's head shot right, checking the trees, and he saw what he expected. Froslass, with Danny behind her, had arrived "Great timing! Bagon, Dragon Pulse!"

Froslass summoned a Protect to let bagon get the Dragon Pulse off, and by that time, Danny's magnemite also joined the fight with an immediate Mirror Shot.

The combination of Dragon Pulse, Mirror Shot, and clefairy's unordered Disarming Voice was finally enough to bring the ursaring down. A cheap shot Dragon Pulse ensured the other ursaring stayed down as well.

Max took an involuntary seat as the surge of energy ebbed away as rapidly as it had come, but he didn't mind. The danger was over, and he hugged clefairy, and bagon when the dragon came close enough. "Thank you so much." Then, to Danny, who was studying the pair of wild Pokémon. "Thanks Danny."

"Next time, don't do that," his friend replied with barely hidden anger. "We talked about this, Max."

"Did we?"

"Yes." Danny turned around, glaring at Max. "Last time you went off chasing a Pokémon." His eyes moved meaningfully, down to Max's right.

"Oh. Right."

"Did you at least capture the natu?"

"Yes I did."

"Something good at least." Danny extended his hand, helping Max up. His best friend looked like he'd run the entire distance: sweat pooled on his forehead, his spiked hair drooping slightly. "You look like..."

"Shit," Max finished, rolling his eyes at Danny's reluctance to swear. "Natu hit me with a few attacks. Ominous Wind, Confusion. Had to dodge a few Hidden Powers too. And then the ursaring also tried to hit me."

They started walking, Danny momentarily walking at a pace Max couldn't keep up with. "I thought you'd use manectric and vulpix or something. They're a lot better against ursaring," he said as he fell back.

"I did. They're knocked out. Grovyle and baltoy too." Danny shot him a disbelieving look. "They hit like Mega metagross." He sighed. "You came just in time."

"Finding you wasn't easy. Why didn't you answer your Pokénav?" In response, Max handed the gadget to Danny. "Worst timing ever."

"Pretty much." He looked around the area, spotting one tree he'd weaved around to dodge a Hidden Power. "Where are we anyway?"

"About three quarters of a mile from where we had lunch. I left marshtomp and dusclops there to guard our stuff."

That explained why Danny wasn't wearing his backpack. "So. Back there, and then some training?"

"No," Danny replied as they reached the incline Max had slid down. Danny led them right without pausing, onto a more normal path. "Pokémon Center."

"I still have clefairy and bagon." The latter let out a happy cry near Max's feet. "Yes, you did great."

"It's not them. It's you." Danny stopped Max with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't tell me you're not tired."

He was, but he could manage. "I'll be fine with a bit of rest."

"Rest we'll get in the Center. Still have to walk for half an hour to get there, remember?"

Max rolled his eyes. "Fine," he conceded. "Let's go back there, then."

As it turned out, Danny was more right than Max wanted. By the time the Pokémon Center came into view, Max wasn't sure he could walk for even five more minutes. When the younger boy glanced over at his friend, all he received was a knowing smirk.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _The Psychic-type emphasises control. Just as a writer controls the pace of his book, so does a Psychic Trainer the flow of battle. I find it remarkable that mastering these Pokémon allows for control of bodies, minds, pace, even reality itself, in battles. This, I feel, is their primary strength, and one more Trainers should play to. Power without control is wasteful, and the more disciplined pair of human and Pokémon will, given a disparity not too great to overcome, always prove the victor._

– Lucian of the Sinnoh Elite Four

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And Mega Evolution makes its appearance. Don't expect to see it all that often for now, though.

Metronome moves: Hyper Voice, Barrage, Mega Drain.


	21. Chapter 21: Others

******Disclaimer:****** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Others**

The ground shook as Steven saw his metagross fall out of the air, losing its Mega Evolution as well. He mentally commended Wallace: Mega metagross had only taken out two Pokémon: Wallace's ace milotic, and the greninja that had been its opponent just now. Speed, grace, and more trickery than Phoebe's Ghost-types made Steven glad he'd taken the time to train with Brawly. The three day crash course on deflecting attacks from all angles had paid off.

It wasn't solely responsible for his win, though. His entire team was. It had been a close fight, but at the end of it all, Steven still had one unused Pokémon left. He hadn't fancied putting his aggron up against milotic, and metagross had been reasonably fresh after defeating Wallace's Pokémon. The other battles had been ties, roughly speaking.

Roars and applause filtered through his in-ears, becoming almost deafening once he took them out, and the new Grand Champion gave a wave as he walked off his platform, to the small podium that had been brought out the instant the referee had declared the match to be over. For the second time in his life, he'd ascend to the top position, and though he was not given to obvious joy, Steven knew there was a large grin on his face; though his feelings were slightly tempered.

Wallace didn't look as happy from afar. It was the professional Trainer in him; in both of them. They'd lamented about this before, when Wallace had defeated Steven four years back. The dissonance between being happy for a friend and annoyed due to losing was a strange one, as was the inverse, according to Wallace. At the time, Steven hadn't really understood, but now, he appreciated the position all the better.

He tuned out most of the excessive gibberish by some League Official. He understood his rights and duties, and that his actions would now reflect on Hoenn as a whole. He'd been in the position before.

All too soon, silence was asked for and given, and the two Trainers climbed up to the podium from opposite ends in a ritual with origins long lost to time. The losing Grand Champion would symbolically hand over his or her weapons – the Pokémon used – and the new Grand Champion would hand them back in an act of forgiveness. It made as much sense to Steven as it did nine years back, but it had a certain quaintness to it, a certain… How did Sycamore put it? A certain _je ne sais quoi._

Once the ritual was over, a microphone was thrust into his hands, and Steven took a sheet of paper from his pocket. It wasn't a full speech – off the cuff worked better for him – but the reminder of key phrases helped in keeping him on track and not rambling.

"Here I am again," Steven started in the completely silent stadium. "I must confess that the me of four years ago would be surprised. After that thorough defeat I suffered at Wallace's hands, I was certain my time was past, and that I should spend time working on my hobbies and my degree, not on Pokémon battling. Yet, one year in, those things bored me. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had lost balance in my life. And isn't balance what Hoenn is based on? The balance of land and water?"

The stadium was silent, hanging on to his every word. "Two years ago, that balance was nearly brutally overthrown. It was prevented, but I was reminded that we live in a world in which humans are… Fragile. We co-exist with Pokémon., working side-by-side as partners and friends, towards a common goal, whatever that goal is."

"Some choose to explore. Others seek the thrill of battle. A good portion likes the performance art of Contests. But for all these paths you can take, balance is essential. Exploration without a goal leads to boredom. Battles for the sake of battles breed resentment. Contests are not just contests of beauty, but also contests of wit and strength. We Trainers combine these areas, seeking to fulfil our self-proclaimed goals, together with our Pokémon. Balance, and harmony."

"As the past months have sadly shown, that harmony is under threat. For as yet unknown reasons, Ghosts around the country are acting out. I am certain Wallace will tell me all about it." He'd hoped for scattered laughter, but he got none. "But I urge you: do not lose sight of what is important. Pokémon and humans are meant to live in harmony. If we do that, then there is nothing that we cannot do."

 **~~§~~§~~**

On a boat en-route to Lilycove, a girl with currently messy brown hair turned her TV off. The battle, eh, she'd seen a lot of them, but the speech stuck in her mind, even as she walked to a basin to wash her face before bed. It was just so different how the Champions did stuff around here.

Linda had grown up with Alder as her Champion. He was almost some mythical figure, only appearing a few times a year, and he never looked interested, she'd noticed one night when she was ten. Before Team Plasma. It hadn't been better since. Linda didn't even know what Alder was doing to stop them, but it wasn't enough. Last week, her younger sister – who was nearly of age to leave – had been told that she shouldn't take a Pokémon by some random idiots on the street. Not even Team Plasma members. Just some people thinking that Team Plasma'd just go away if everyone freed their Pokémon.

Easy Linda. No need to get angry before bed.

She should really just call people. She hadn't done a big round of calls in a while. Call home, call Professor Juniper, call her best friend Erin in… wherever she was. She'd been in the Indigo League, but met an early exit against an eventual semi-finalist. Maybe she should even call Max and Danny. She hadn't talked to them since she told them that she had gotten her eighth badge, the same day that she saw their faces on the TV.

Maybe she should plan to meet up with them once she arrived in five days. She was certain they'd made it to Ever Grande. They were too good not to go there. Who knew? Maybe she'd even fight one of them in the League.

Linda let out a snort. That was only going to end one way, and even her new baltoy wasn't going to stop that. Anyone going up against a criminal gang had to be tough, and Wattson had been full of praise for them. That had to count for something.

Her Pokénav rang, and Linda rolled her eyes. Probably her mother trying to reach her again, but reception in an inside cabin was not good. Still, she answered, silencing the strings. "Heya?"

"… inda? Where are y…?" came a voice Linda barely recognised. "You're breaking..."

"I'm on a boat in a cabin, and the reception is very bad, so can you call back tomorrow?" Linda said into the speaker, trying to slow her speech down in the hopes that the boy at the other end got her message.

"Okay. Talk—" the call abruptly cut short with a burst of crackling static, and the thirteen-year-old sighed. She'd have to explain that. Probably. Nothing she could do about it now, and since it was nearing ten anyway, she decided she might as well make it an early night. She needed one after last night's waves.

 **~~§~~§~~**

An unmarked, plain brown, lorry rode up to a hill overlooking the Pristine Sound on one side, and quiet, quaint, Pinwater on the other side. Michael didn't understand why they were here, and why now. If he were in charge, he would've gone to Littleroot, hit the laboratory up on the night that that Stone ponce got his Champion title back. Nobody would be able to respond, and it'd be glorious chaos.

Instead, it was five days after that, and they were here. Pinwater wasn't small: it was the only big town close to route 103, and a natural rest stop for trainers. Sure, fine. He'd been here once before, twenty years back. Hadn't changed a bit from the looks of it. It just wasn't a big target, and it made no sense.

He trusted the leader, though. His targets made sense. Too bad the Psychic facility got blown up. They'd been pretty close to a breakthrough, one of his friends had told him. Instead, it was just Ghosts they were sending into a frenzy. Shame, that. Would've been so much better with those blasted Psychics.

"Let's move," Michael said as he braked, placing his vehicle on an out of the way stop meant for the odd lorry that did pass by here. "I'll check perimeter. You start the transmitter."

His partner saluted – Michael was older, wiser, more important after all – and walked off to the back of the vehicle as a flash of light lit up the area.

Out came Michael's ursaring, one of his best friends for the last twenty years, and together, they checked for any stragglers around. He wasn't expecting to find any: they always parked out of the way, both so they weren't easily connected to the deeds and because it meant less chance of interference. Today wasn't different: the rest stop was completely abandoned, not that Michael had expected any people here at ten in the evening on a November night.

The whirring of a platform being lowered made him turn back to his partner. Michael didn't know his name, nor did he care. Kid barely looked out of his teens, if even that, scruffy, unkempt. He wouldn't last long. "All's ready, sir. You need only push the button."

Michael ambled over, and pressed the relevant button without looking. He'd seen it often enough that it had lost all novelty. First, there was a faint, soft, crackling as electricity started flowing through the machinery in the back of their truck. Then, inevitably, there'd be one or two bangs against the glass as the captured haunter – taken from Mt. Pyre as a gastly – tried to escape, only to fail.

Then it fell silent, and the fun would begin.

He made a quick call on his burner Pokénav, letting it ring two times before ending the call. Five minutes from now, the Ghosts of Pinwater would be in an uncontrollable frenzy, just like Oldale, Crossgate, Petal Grove, and Rinshin before them. "So, rookie. Care to wager on wounded?"

"Sure, sir," the teen stated as the haunter, right on cue, banged against the impenetrable glass. "Twenty in the hospital, two serious, and one dead."

Michael let loose a whistle. "A stiff one? Bold. What makes you think that?"

"I saw a lot of scaffolding in town."

"Scaffolding doesn't kill people," Michael scoffed. "But twenty in the hospital sounds good. Let's hope we get there."

It felt good to watch the town slowly wake up to its worst nightmare. Lights started appearing around town, more than usual, as doors opened, windows shattered, and the odd Pokémon attack made its way through the air, barely visible in the limited light.

They'd scaled up on the violence since Petal Grove. That one had been a test run, to see what they could do. This was the real deal.

A loud, eardrum-shattering at close range, explosion suddenly lit up the night, as a huge fireball ballooned into the air, immediately collapsing in on itself. That had never happened before. "Whoa. What happened?"

"I don't know, kid," Michael said, "but I wager we'll hear that soon."

True to his words, it was only three minutes later that his Pokénav rang. He answered, and listened, call on the speaker.

"Pokémart exploded. No idea what set it off, but probably the generator or fuel caught fire. The place is a mess. Shattered windows to here, and I'm two blocks down. You can probably see fire better, but it looks pretty big from here. People in a frenzy, both at Pokémon and at the fire. Been at least two gengar going mad around here as well. Great target."

The call ended without another word, as was their habit. From below, the sound of sirens began to ring through the streets; earlier than Michael was used to, but explosions usually weren't on the menu. "The Pokémart, huh," he mused. "You might be in luck, kid."

"Someone's died," his partner stated with absolute certainty. "I had a job in a Pokémart before," he explained when Michael motioned for him to continue. "They're open until ten, and the layout is always the same. The generator is right under the mart floor. If someone was in the building, they're dead."

Michael nodded, impressed with the calm reasoning. "And do you care that you killed someone?"

"We didn't do it. The Ghosts did."

"You know what I mean."

His partner gave a calm shrug. "Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." He looked out at the blaze, which was starting to dim as fuel ran out. "They chose their side by allying Ghosts. Now they paid for it."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Alice cast an eye at the doors to the boat that would bring them to Ever Grande. Still closed. She shifted in her uncomfortable plastic seat, wishing again that she was able to stand for an extended period of time, but no, she just had to sprain her ankle on the pavement's edge yesterday, walking back from the Grand Festival's Grand Final.

That boy she'd lost to once, for her fifth ribbon the first time, had actually won the final. That made her feel a lot better. And his opponent had beaten her in the second appeal round. So really, she was connected to the finals.

It was kinda disappointing to go out without even getting to the battle stage, though.

She turned her head to where she'd last seen her brother, and he was still in the same spot, talking to the same adult he'd been talking to for the last ten minutes. Probably still talking about how Ghost-type Pokémon were evil, and what happened in Pinwater, four days back. One death, one other in the intensive care with heavy burns after a Pokémart exploded. Lampent setting the Pokémart generator on fire, police thought. It was horrible, and Alice had been glad she was able to go watch a semi-final on her own. Paul hadn't even noticed her leave the room as he watched all the news on it.

Why couldn't everyone just get along in peace?

The speakers on the wall crackled. "Passengers for Ever Grande can now board the S.S. Kyogre," a calm female voice announced. "Please do not forget your luggage."

Alice smiled as she saw Paul break off the chatter to come help her. It faltered when she saw the adult follow. "Hey Alice, this is Rick. He's not going to Ever Grande, but he's agreed to help us get everything in our cabin."

"It's the right thing to do," Rick agreed. Alice didn't think he was older than twenty, with a bit of an unkempt beard and long dyed hair. "Lead the way."

Twenty minutes and one break after a staircase later, they were in their cabin. Luckily, Rick hadn't tried to talk to her about Ghosts, and he'd now left them alone again. It'd be two days until they reached Ever Grande, and Alice was not planning on leaving the cabin at all. Her ankle throbbed with pain, even after she put it up. "You okay, sis?"

"Naw. Feels like I just sprained it again." She reached for the cold pack, but Paul was there first, and he pressed it on her ankle, gently. "Yer the best brother a girl can have. Sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Paul said, feigning hurt. "Don't say that."

"You did leave me alone for fifteen minutes," Alice told her twin. "Talking about Ghosts. And yeah, I heard you the first time about them. Don't need no stinkin' lecture again."

"But—"

"No!" Alice said forcefully. "We're thirteen, Paul. Let adults do stuff about it."

"They don't care, Alice. We're the ones being injured. We're the ones under attack. Most of the injuries in the attacks were trainers like you or me!" Her brother visibly tried to reel himself in. "I don't want you to get injured because of some Ghost."

"Yer the only one havin' trouble with 'em," Alice reminded Paul. "Rob 'n Rosa don't, Lily doesn't, Max 'n Danny don't, Peter doesn't. Mum and Da don't. Just you."

"It could happen to them, too!" Paul nearly yelled, and Alice winced. It was a bit theatrical, but it pushed the right button. "I just don't want anything to hurt you, or them."

"I know."

Paul abandoned the pack, and carefully sat down next to her, making sure he didn't jostle her ankle. "When did Max and Danny get in again?"

"The twenty-second," Alice replied instantly, rolling her eyes. She'd told him last night, but Paul had been kind of distracted. "Week from now. Danny's uncle's got his birthday tomorrow." She moved a tiny bit so Paul had more room to sit. "Wonder if they have more rare Pokémon now."

"They had a lot of 'em, yeah," Paul agreed. There was a short flash of annoyance, telling Alice that he was thinking of Danny's dusclops, but it faded. "Hope I don't have to face them. I'd lose so hard."

"Yer a good trainer, too."

"And they're better. You heard Wattson, you saw them have a spar before leaving. They're good. Like, really good."

Alice shrugged. "Then we better think how to beat 'em. If you're out together..."

"You work together," Paul finished, a large grin on his face. "Thanks sis."

"No problem."

They sat in silence for a good while, until the ship's engines started properly. At that point, Paul left to look out their cabin window, with Alice joining him, leaning heavily on her borrowed crutches, just in time for the departure.

"Next stop, Ever Grande."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"Are you certain, Ash?" Drake asked as his crew navigated his ship into the harbour for the night. "We can take you to Ever Grande."

"Nah," Ash said as he looked at the town, the last rays of sunlight striking tiled roofs and the occasional window. He'd been here once before, briefly, to catch a boat. That was about two years and two months ago. "I'll get there on my own."

"As you wish." A member of Drake's crew jumped off, and a rope was thrown after him. "Wanderlust calls you, doesn't it?" When Ash turned to the old Dragon Master, he simply laughed. "I was young once, as was my son. Neither of us really settled until we were twenty. Of course, I still travel a lot, but it's not the same."

"No, it isn't," Ash agreed, feeling glad Drake understood him. "Besides, there's a Pokémon I want to catch, and this is my best guess."

"I had wondered why you called Sidney a few days back."

Ash grinned. "Guilty." Just then, a shout came from below, telling them that the ship had been tied to the pier, and footsteps to their left told Ash that the gangplank would soon be put down. "Thanks Drake. For everything."

"It's been my honour, Ash," the Elite Four member replied. "I have watched you work as hard as anyone I've mentored, and you've improved more than most. If it weren't for your diversity and desire to travel, I'd put you down for whatever Elite Four slot opens up next." As Ash blushed, Drake chuckled. "Of course, that may well be a few years, but you aren't one to rest on your laurels. It was one of the things that made me call you."

"Huh?"

"I've always been coy in my reasoning," Drake started, capturing Ash's full attention. The Pallet Town Trainer felt pikachu shift on his shoulder, and he didn't need to glance out of the corner of his eyes to know that his best friend was also listening intently. "I was coy because information changes the dynamic between us, and I didn't want that. And no," he said, raising his hand ever so slightly to make Ash keep his silence, "I don't believe you would change consciously, but as you well know, that is only a part of who we are."

Sailors started moving down the gangplank, and Drake took a moment to watch them, before continuing his explanation. "Do you remember what I said when we first met, back on Mossdeep?"

"Focus on the match, empty my mind of idle thinking," Ash replied. They had been words he'd tried to live by since. "At least, I think that's what you meant."

"It is, in part," Drake confirmed. "It's my guiding philosophy in battle. Focus and clarity of mind enable the right execution. That's how I've gone into battle for the last forty or so years. But when I was your age?" Drake paused, and Ash saw a smile on the older man's face, though he had no idea why. "When I was your age, I was far more rudderless than you were. It wasn't until a kind man took me under his wing that I gained this perspective, and lost my overconfidence. He forged a part of me, and through me, he made his legacy."

"I've had over a dozen-and-a-half apprentices of sorts over the years. Reginald is one you know. Some of them weren't up to the task. Most of them were, but always, the ones I selected were the ones that reached greater heights. They are my legacy, and you are the last piece in it."

Ash was silent, working through what he had just heard the normally private man explain. He had many questions, but it didn't feel right to ask most of them. In the end, he settled for one question. "What was this man's name?" he asked, wondering if it had been a former Champion or Elite Four member, or maybe a Gym Leader.

"He is nobody you would find in the annals of history. He was an old soldier from the last Hoenn Civil War," Drake said softly. "As for his name, well, that's right under your nose."

Ash was confused, and he knew it showed on his face. Drake said nothing, instead averting his eyes downwards, to his feet, and the shi… "S.S. _Brian?"_

"And now you know." Drake held out his hand, and they shook, one last time. "Ash. I know you can do whatever it is you set your mind to. Now, go out there and do it."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Ever Grande was _huge_! Danny had seen it on TV before, but he hadn't known about the full scale of it. It was more like a city than a small town, with tons of people around. Trainers, League officials, even some fans already. He was glad Max had taken him on a tour the day before, when they arrived, just so he knew where most important stuff was, even without the help of copious signs to point trainers in the right direction. Even then, he had still spent a lot of today walking around, trying to get an idea of the scale in his head. It was around sunset now, and he'd met up with Max about ten minutes ago.

They'd registered yesterday, with exactly a week and one hour to go until the deadline, and Danny had been surprised at the sheer number of participants. The Conference was closing in on four hundred and fifty participants already. He knew the Conference was big: far bigger than the Kalos one they'd watched, and the biggest in the Home Regions, but from the way it looked, they might be setting a new record for participants. They'd know in under a week.

For now, they were waiting for a few others, but none of them had showed up yet. "You met anyone you know?" Danny asked to pass the time.

"Nobody our age," Max replied. "Nurse Joy recognised me, though. You?"

"Ran into Keith. Hasn't changed a bit, except for a scar on his cheek. He was in Rinshin, and he's got a sableye." Keith hadn't seemed to blame the Pokémon for it, if the odd Pokémon being out by his feet was any indication. "He said Jane qualified, but he didn't know anyone else."

"We guessed that," Max said, before his head turned to one of the paths leading onto the plaza they were at. "Linda!"

The Unovan girl heard them, and ran towards them, her yamask following as fast as it could. "Max! Danny!" she exclaimed once she was closer, and both of the boys got up from their seat, receiving a fierce hug in turn. "You look great. How have you been? Have you had eight badges for long? Captured new Pokémon?"

"We've been great, we've had eight badges since September 30th, and we've got some new Pokémon too," Max answered. "I've got a vulpix and a natu now."

"And I finally captured a masquerain." Danny was still a bit annoyed about having lost out on one before that encounter with the poacher. "Duskull is now a dusclops, and snorunt is a froslass. No more Drain Punching her."

Linda giggled. "Guess not. Where'd you get a Dawn Stone? Aren't they supposed to be really rare, and expensive?"

Danny gave Max a look. He wasn't sure how to explain it properly.

Max picked up on Danny's discomfort. "He got it from me, and I got it for my birthday. I met a ralts once, but he wasn't there any longer when I returned as a Trainer," Max explained. "Poachers. Didn't feel like going after another ralts after that." Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he remembered something else. "What about you? Did you get a baltoy?"

The grin on Linda's face told Danny the answer before she said anything. "Sure did. Took me two days, but I found one. And I went to the Coral Cape Gym too, and I picked up a ton of tips there. Thanks again for tellin' me about that. I never would've been able to do that in Unova. The Ground Gym Leader's a bit grumpy," she added, softer.

"Heya!" said a boy from behind them, and Danny didn't even need to turn around to know it was Paul. "Found you! Sorry 'bout being late. Lost track of the time."

"Hey Paul, Alice," Max said, having stepped back to let the twins into the circle. "Meet Linda, from Castelia in Unova. We ran into her in Petalburg. Linda, meet Paul and Alice. We met them at a tournament in June, and then also two months back near Mt. Pyre."

Half an hour later, the five of them sat around a table in a pizza restaurant, two humongous pizzas, five smaller plates, and various drinks taking up most of the table. They weren't the only ones there, but it was too early for most to have dinner. "So," Danny started after nabbing one slice of pizza and putting it on his plate, "how far do you hope to get?"

"The Grand Final, of course!" Paul said, to general laughter and joy. "I don't know. Last round of the double battles? As long as I don't lose to some stupid-ass Ghost."

"It'd be amazin' to get to the Victory Tournament," Linda chimed in. "I heard they decided to expand that to the round of 64, because there's so many Trainers, and there's still three rounds of double battles before that."

"So you'd need to win six full battles and three double battles, and maybe one preliminary one on one to win the tournament?" Max half-asked. Danny wasn't sure who he was asking: he was probably the one most knowledgeable about the tournament in the first place. "That's going to be hard for the winners."

"Well, it's more battles to watch!" Paul exclaimed. "And come on, I told you what I hope to reach. Tell us! Linda?"

"Anythin' is good, really," the Unovan girl said shyly. "Round of 256? Second doubles round. Anythin' but getting tossed out in the preliminaries."

"Yeah, that'd suck," Max agreed. "Get eight badges, spend lots of time on it, go here, then get sent home." He took a bite of his pizza, and immediately let it drop from his mouth, to chuckles from the others. "Gah, hot."

"Cheese pizza," Danny told him smugly. "Round of 128'd be great. That's four battles. Round of 256 is fine if it's a good battle, though."

Everyone was now looking at Max, as the only one who hadn't said anything yet. "Round of 128, maybe 256. Rookies getting to the round of 64 is rare, even in earlier tournaments. It'd be cool to be in a full battle, but I don't think I'll get there."

Paul and Alice agreed with Max, but Danny met Linda's eyes, and he just knew that she felt the same way he did. If any of them had any chance of getting to the Victory Tournament, it'd be the youngest at the table.

And Danny would cheer for him all the way.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _The 164_ _th_ _Ever Grande Conference starts tomorrow, and with a total of 790 participating trainers, it is the largest Conference in Hoenn history. Due to this large number, the Pokémon League has expanded its Victory Tournament to now also include the round of 64, and for the Double Battle segment to also be adjusted so it continues for three rounds. This means the following for the tournament brackets:_

 _234 trainers, selected randomly, but weighed towards trainer seniority, will receive a 'Bye' in the preliminary round. The other 556 trainers will fight a single one on one match, and the winners join the trainers with a 'Bye' in the first Double Battle round: the round of 512. After three Double Battle rounds, 64 trainers remain for the Victory Tournament._

 _It is important to note that there is a separate draw for the Victory Tournament. This means that Trainers in adjacent brackets in the round of 128 do not necessarily face each other in the round of 64.  
_


	22. Chapter 22: Début

******Disclaimer:****** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this

* * *

 **Chapter 22: Début**

Nearly eight hundred trainers stood in the main stadium, facing a full set of stands. Max and Danny were somewhere in the middle of the group, which made it very hard to see Mr. Goodshow, who was doing his usual speech at the start of a tournament. Max had heard them before, plenty of times, but being in the group of Trainers being talked to was different.

It was cool as anything ever was.

"Let this Ever Grande Conference… begin!"

The trainers slowly left the arena, under thunderous applause. Somewhere in that audience were his parents, Max knew. He hadn't seen them yet, but his Dad had promised, and he kept his promises. His sister wasn't in the audience: she wouldn't be in Ever Grande until late December 2nd.

She'd overslept and missed the boat from Slateport. Typical.

"When are you up?" Danny asked as they traversed the spacious hallways that led them outside. "I'm the tenth match in Stadium G, around half past three."

"Eighteenth match in Stadium C," Max replied instantly. He'd checked earlier, for himself, Danny, Paul, Linda, Keith, and Jane. "I'll watch you, then head to Stadium C. Paul's up in thirteenth there." All the others were up simultaneously with Max, give or take one match.

"Unlucky thirteen?" Danny quipped.

"Eh, that's superstition." They reached the outside, going from fluorescent light to pale sunlight. "Chose your Pokémon?"

"Last night. You?"

"Same." They walked onto one of the main plazas, with the clock saying it was close to noon. "I think we both know which Pokémon we chose."

Danny snorted. "Yeah, I can guess. Let's just hope we don't get some bad match-ups."

For the preliminaries and the Double Battle rounds, both trainers had to preselect their Pokémon. There was no strategy possible in sending out counters. You selected Pokémon, and bad match-ups happened on occasion, which could be a problem.

Then again, Ash had run into one of those in his Ever Grande Conference. Hadn't stopped him.

The possibility of these bad match-ups was why Max and Danny had spent a good part of the last month and a half teaching and training some specific counters. They couldn't control their opponent's Pokémon, but they could plan for possible problems.

They headed back to their hostel until Danny had to leave for his match. Stadium G was right next to the hostel, which was nice, and Max settled in the audience early, watching two girls dominate their opponents. The match before Danny's had been especially one-sided: rhyhorn versus mareep match-ups usually were.

Still, he'd been into the match enough to not notice Danny's father sneaking up beside him. His surprised yelp got him a few glares, but after a quick greeting, with the older Birch confirming Max's own parents were elsewhere in the audience with Danny's Mum and uncle, they sat in silence, watching as some diglett repaired the arena after rhyhorn had stomped a bit too hard.

Max took out his Pokénav, checking the details on Danny's opponent. It was another twelve year old boy. His name was Oliver, from Fallarbor, and he had done the small circuit around Hoenn's west: Cave, Stone, Balance, Knuckle, Dynamo, Heat, Shadow, Feather.

And then, both trainers walked out, to encouraging applause from the audience. Max clapped hard, even as he privately grumbled a tiny bit. They were at the wrong side, close to Oliver, not Danny. "Wrong side, eh?" Danny's father picked up on it. "Don't worry. We can still see him."

Oliver didn't look around, keeping his eyes straight down the field, but Danny had apparently spotted his Mum and uncle, and gave a short wave before walking into the Trainer's box.

Both Pokémon came out, revealing it would be marshtomp against a nidorina. Not the best opponent, but Max figured Danny was okay with it. Nidorina weren't speedy or primarily ranged, although the poison spikes could be a problem.

Oliver opened the battle, his high-pitched voice carrying just enough to Max's seat. "Nidorina, use Poison Sting!"

The stings met a burst of water that scattered and dissolved all of them, and marshtomp moved, trying to close the distance with the quadruped. He made it to the half way line when the nidorina spewed green liquid at him, forcing Danny to order a Protect.

"What's that move?" Danny's Dad asked as nidorina took advantage of marshtomp's momentary immobility and pounced, claws out. Marshtomp was able to avoid that, but he wasn't able to throw the Poison-type off, and a scuffle started.

"Venoshock, I think," Max said. "Works better when used on poisoned Pokémon."

Marshtomp, meanwhile, had been scratched a few times, but was able to concentrate long enough to deliver a regular old punch to the nidorina's gut, which forced her off. The follow-up Mud Bomb was unmissable, and it hit right her right on the nose. "So it exacerbates the poison?"

"Ex-a-cer-bates?" Max echoed slowly as Oliver ordered nidorina to move away. "What?"

"Make worse."

"Yeah." Max saw blue energy start to form in front of nidorina's mouth. "Ice Beam? Impressive, but not going to work."

True to Max's thoughts, the moment the Ice Beam launched, marshtomp vanished into the ground, quickly digging his way over to the nidorina. She tried to avoid the marshtomp, but it wasn't successful: the nidorina was launched several feet in the air, and upon landing, got blasted with a harsh Water Gun.

The Water Gun suddenly stopped, as marshtomp let out what sounded like a low groan, and he was close enough that Max spotted the problem: there was a small wound on his forehead. "Danny needs to finish quick."

"Or?"

"Or the poison is going to finish him."

Nidorina spat out another round of Venoshock, and Danny ordered marshtomp to dodge, which he did. The acidic attack clipped marshtomp's left arm, but not the head, and the Mud Fish Pokémon bit through that pain to launch a stream of Mud Shot.

Most of them missed, but the first few hit the nidorina on her rear, prompting another cry of pain. The Poison-type was shaking on her feet, breathing heavily, but she wasn't out just yet. "Venoshock. Get it!" Oliver yelled.

This time, the attack was too slow. Marshtomp was able to Protect itself for the full attack, and when the Venoshock faltered, he dropped the shield and launched another Water Gun back.

The tired nidorina couldn't dodge, caught the jet, and skid slightly back, buckling her knees.

"Nidorina is unable to battle!" the referee declared, microphone-boosted voice echoing through the stadium. "The victory goes to marshtomp and Danny!"

"Closer than I wanted," Danny said ten minutes later as he walked out of the catacombs, immediately going in for a hug with his Mum, and then his Dad after. "Tail spike nicked marshtomp's head after Dig. If he'd been smarter about it, I could've lost."

"But?" Max's Dad asked.

"Ice Beam was too slow. Gave me way too much time, and marshtomp is fine with frozen surfaces." He grabbed a Pokéball and gave it to his Dad. "Can you take this to the Center? A friend of ours is up in Stadium C, and we gotta run."

"Sure, let your old man do all the work." Despite the grumble, Danny's Dad nodded. "Go on, go watch your friend. Save some seats for us."

"Will do!"

Both of them ran across Ever Grande, crossing the distance to Stadium C just in time to see Paul finish his match. He had sent out dustox against a sneasel, and from the looks of the coughing sneasel, neither the Sharp Claw Pokémon nor its trainer – a Unovan boy – had any idea of how to deal with powders. The immunity to Psychic attacks was probably the only reason they caught the tail end of the match: Max remembered dustox relying a fair bit on those attacks, with only general Tackles and Gusts to cover for it.

Paul and Danny compared notes for a bit as they watched four more trainers duke it out, but they had largely finished by the time the sixteenth battle in the Stadium was about to start, and as soon as both trainers had sent out their Pokémon, Max stood up. "This is over," he told family and friends. "I'm going to prepare."

And honestly, he had no interest in watching a staraptor make mincemeat of a nincada. There were nature documentaries for that.

By the time he signed in at the official, not even two minutes later, the battle had ended. It gave Max about five minutes to prepare in one of the many rooms in the stadium before needing to come back out. He walked into the nearest empty room, closed the door, and sent out manectric, who greeted him with enthusiastic licks. "Easy, girl. Sit."

The Electric-type jumped onto the bench beside him, sitting calmly, with a large canine grin on her face. "You ready to get this started?"

"Tric!"

"Of course you are," Max said, smiling fondly. "You're always ready, aren't you." The answer to that question was more licking, and Max returned manectric, if only to make sure his face and glasses weren't covered in slobber.

Max's opponent was another rookie trainer: a boy called Matt from Mauville. They briefly met in the catacombs, giving each other a hand and wishing the other good luck. Matt was shorter than Max was, but his voice was raspy and deep, like he had a persistent cold, only not really. They walked out side by side, as all Trainers did, into the artificially lit arena. Max went left, Matt went right, and both of them grabbed the Pokéball they had selected.

Manectric and a teddiursa appeared on the field.

The average teddiursa was a bit slow, and better up close, but they had ways around that. "Thunder Wave at range!" Max ordered as soon as the referee lowered his flags.

Exactly what Matt ordered, he couldn't hear, but the small globes of white energy told Max enough. Hidden Power flew around the arena, trying to catch the manectric, but Max's Pokémon was too fast to be caught. The Thunder Wave hit, but rather than bend over, the teddiursa grinned.

And sped towards manectric.

"Always the wrong ability," Max muttered as his Pokémon easily dodged a Fury Swipes and a Shadow Claw. "Spark!"

Teddiursa tried to avoid the manectric, and did a good job of avoiding her for a bit by using her smaller profile to make tighter turns, but the quadruped ended up being plain faster, slamming into the bear-like Pokémon, sending it flying backward. It landed on its back, getting up to a sitting position with a little bit of trouble, but immediately glowing with a blue light, eyes closing.

This was too easy. "Discharge!"

Teddiursa also let out an attack, Sleep Talking into a Sweet Scent that did absolutely nothing to hinder the powerful Discharge attack bearing down on it. The bear briefly screamed in pain, and before it recovered enough to use another Sleep Talk, manectric slammed into it with a Quick Attack, sending it flying straight into the back wall.

It didn't get up, unsurprisingly. Teddiursa weren't known for being durable.

It wasn't quite a two minute match, but it was pretty fast. The applause was loud, and Max saw the faces of his family and friends in the audience, all of them clapping as hard as they could.

"Hey," Matt said when they were in the catacombs proper, off to the side. The next pair of trainers, two very nervous girls from the looks of it, were already waiting. "Good battle. Just don't go out next round, okay, or I won't hear the end of it."

"I'll try not to," Max said as they shook hands one last time. Matt walked off afterwards, making Max think that he perhaps wasn't as stoic as he'd portrayed himself to be, but that was the nature of battles. One had to win, and one had to lose.

An hour later, the full group, including Keith, Jane, and Linda, who'd all won their first rounds as well, walked into a restaurant. The proprietor took one look at who had entered, and immediately waved them on to the back room.

"I remember that trainer," Max's Dad said as they sat down at the huge table – it could seat sixteen. "He came by for his second badge just after you left. Already had the teddiursa, then, and a volbeat as well. He managed a draw with one of my slakoth and my aipom. Seemed more comfortable with the teddiursa than the volbeat."

"Teddiursa's his starter?" Paul wondered. "Man, that's a weird starter for a boy."

"Ursaring are fierce as anythin'," Alice reminded him, and Max had a momentary flashback to capturing natu. "Is it normal ta use the starter in the first battle? Paul and Max didn't, but Danny and Linda did."

"Common, for sure," Professor Birch agreed. "Trainers put a lot of faith in their starter Pokémon, so who better to fight in a one on one?"

"We did too," Keith piped up from down the table, undeterred by distance, speaking for himself and Jane, who'd been in the same stadium one match after him. "Why didn't you two?"

"Dustox is safe, and as Danny will tell you, it's a pain to fight against powders if you don't know how to deal with them."

Several pairs of eyes went to Danny, who was sitting opposite Keith. "That was five months ago!"

"Still counts." That set off a round of laughter. "Max?"

"Flipped a coin between grovyle and manectric," Max replied honestly, to more laughter, and a vaguely disapproving look by his father. "I couldn't choose, and I kind of wanted to sleep too." That soothed his father, and a waiter came in to provide them with menus.

The group dispersed two hours later, after a great dinner and a lot of fun. Max had swapped places with Paul halfway through dinner, wanting to talk some more to his old classmates about what they had seen on their journey and where they were going next.

As it turned out, both of them were going to Kalos. Together, too, but not "together-together", as Keith said vehemently. Max let it slide; he'd been the subject of enough teasing like that by Danny now that Linda was with them again.

One of these days, he was going to prank Danny for that.

"Alone again," Danny remarked as they headed off to their hostel, walking past many other restaurants full of Trainers. They were the only ones going east: Keith and Linda were in a hostel near Stadium A, to the north; Jane and the twins were in a hostel around the corner from the restaurant they'd eaten at, and the adults were in a hotel nearly outside town, all the way west. "Uncle had some good things to say about Kalos and Sinnoh. More about Sinnoh."

"Because he hasn't been to Kalos," Max countered, weaving around a joyfully snapping houndour. The young girl playing with it called the canine to her, but Danny knelt by it for a second, scratching it right under the chin. "He'd probably love to see some Kalos Pokémon," he added when Danny got back up.

"Scratch the probably," Danny said. "And you can do that for him you need to. Gotta catch 'em all, you know."

Max laughed as they started walking again. "That slogan is so old and corny. Who came up with it?"

"Stupid people in stupid times," Danny replied solemnly, but the effect was ruined when Max raised an eyebrow, and laughter ensued again. "Anyway," Danny said afterwards. "Kalos sounds fun, but Sinnoh is..."

"Sort of family tradition, you told me," Max finished for his friend. "I'm just happy your parents didn't meet in Unova, and you were thinking about going there."

"Yeah, Unova sounds like a bad idea." They continued walking, passing Stadium E along the way, a screen telling them that there was only one match left after the current one. "I'll decide tomorrow.. Maybe day after tomorrow."

"Okay."

They reached the full hostel with little more issue, and settled down for the night after Danny retrieved marshtomp from Nurse Joy. The poison had been purged from his system, but she warned Danny to not use the marshtomp in his next battle, just in case. The day after was fine, just not tomorrow.

At around half past nine, Max decided to check the tournament website to see the brackets for the Double Battle rounds. He found his own face nearly immediately: he was in the top left quarter of the bracket, as was Jane. They couldn't meet, though: the round of 64 was where their brackets converged, and that was a new draw entirely. Max was up around noon, and Jane's match about an hour later. In the same stadium.

Danny was in the lower left part, and though his opponent was fifteen, it was still her first League. Keith had not been as lucky: his opponent was a four time League participant from Johto with a walk-over in the preliminaries. Danny could actually meet her in the round of 128. Both of them were in the same stadium, Keith about an hour after Danny.

A loud cheer and the sound of exploding fireworks nearby made Max get up and close the window. No need to sleep in gunpowder smells. Once he had done that, he scrolled over to the lower right, and what he saw there piqued his interest. Paul and Linda were in adjacent slots, meaning that they'd be fighting each other if both of them won their match. "Danny."

"Hm?"

"Come here." Danny did so. "See?"

"Hope we can watch that if they go through." Danny yawned. "What time we up tomorrow?"

"Around lunch," Max said as he scrolled back to Danny's match. "Here's yours. I'm one match earlier across town."

"Right. Thanks. I'm off to bed now, try to get some sleep. Don't stay up too late."

"I won't, Mum."

 **~~§~~§~~**

"What did you make of the matches, dear?" Caroline asked as she sat down in one of the comfortable hotel chairs. "I know you must have been watching as a Gym Leader as well as a father."

"You know I did. It's difficult to shut part of your brain off," Norman prevaricated as he poured them some drinks.

"And?" Caroline pressed. Her husband remained silent, handing her a glass before taking a seat as well. The Petalburg Gym Leader took a sip of his drink. "Norman."

Glass met a glass table with an audible clink. "It was short, but… Max looked at home in the arena. Like he'd done it a dozen times before."

"He fought nine Gym battles and won a tournament," Caroline pointed out.

"No. Those are different. The stadium wasn't that full, but Max wouldn't have cared if he was in that stadium, or the main one." Norman smiled fondly at his wife of nineteen years. "He was confident, but not overconfident, and he was fast, but thought his moves through. And I'm left wondering when my son grew up so much."

"So why didn't you tell him how proud you are?"

Norman conceded the point to Caroline with a small smile and a sideways nod of the head. "He hasn't changed that much. He'll be confident right up until where he wants to get, and then he'll get nervous. I'd rather say it then."

"I see." Caroline wasn't certain she agreed, but this was one of the differences of opinion they had about raising their children. It was minor. "And which round do you think he wants to get to?"

"128," Norman answered instantly. "That Unovan girl – Linda – told me before dinner. Smart girl, but I don't think she knows the word 'secret'. And I think he'd be okay with going out in the round of 256 if the opponent is someone like Ash: just plain better in every way."

He lapsed into silence, but Caroline could tell there was more on his mind. "What else is bothering you?"

"Nothing," came the reply. "I'm just thinking about having a friendly battle with Max once they come home. I'd love to see him up against some of my Pokémon."

Caroline smiled fondly. "There's the Gym Leader speaking. Let's hope he accepts, then."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Waiting inside, hoping the battle scheduled before yours ended, was the worst, Danny decided after nearly ten minutes of watching a game of cat and mouse – literally. Both trainers only had one Pokémon left after a machoke and a cacnea had fallen, and it was a pikachu versus a persian.

The Double Battles were where the real tournament started, and Danny knew he was nervous. But he also knew he couldn't doubt himself, and so he did his best to ignore his queasy stomach, instead watching a rodent try to tire a cat out. The pikachu had long lost all of its stored up electricity, and could only shoot occasional Thundershocks. Danny had been expecting more, but that was probably him being used to Ash's pikachu, who was… crazy powerful.

After twelve minutes, the pikachu finally fell, much to the relief of the persian's trainer. Danny moved out of the preparation room into the hallway, finding his opponent already there, looking the exact same as the picture he'd seen online. "Good luck."

His opponent – a Sinnoh girl named Amber – didn't return his wishes, though she did shake his hand and offer him a smile. Her hand was clammy, sweaty, and the smile definitely wasn't full. It calmed Danny, knowing that his opponent was as nervous as he was.

His parents had managed to get a place near the entrance from the catacombs, and Danny heard their encouragement – polite from his mother, enthusiastic from his father – as he walked out. The stadium wasn't that full, but it was still filled to well over half its capacity.

He took both Pokéballs in hand and threw them upwards, releasing both of his chosen Pokémon. He then had to stoop to grab froslass's Pokéball, because he missed catching it, and that made sure he didn't see the opponent's Pokémon come out.

When he looked back up, Danny spotted two Pokémon very unsuited for a battle against his two Ghosts. He knew he shouldn't underestimate anyone, but neither Pokémon learned Foresight or Odor Sleuth to the best of his knowledge. That was a big help for him, especially with what he was planning to do.

A small downside was that both of them were immune to Ghost-type attacks, and dusclops wasn't the most versatile. He really should have had her practice more with Max's vulpix.

It was too late now, as the battle started. "Dusclops, move forward. Froslass, Hail!"

Hail pelted the field, and froslass appeared to sink into it, much like Terry's larvitar had done with a Sandstorm, months ago. The hail was fierce enough to completely block Danny's view of the opposing Pokémon, though dusclops was still, barely, visible, standing in the middle of Danny's half of the battlefield. "Will-O-Wisp."

As they had practised, dusclops formed a ball of flame close to the ground, and with a little bit of mental manipulation, she moved it to the side of the arena, on the other end of where froslass was probably hiding out. There, the fire danced in the hail.

As bait.

Predictably, something shot down that left hand side of the field. A familiar green globe extinguished the flame, missing everything and everyone else, and it was followed by the aipom, sort of visible by the purple energy it used to slash in the hail, in the hopes of hitting something.

Another Will-O-Wisp alerted aipom to dusclops's position, and the small Pokémon pounced in an instant, Shadow Claws raining down on the Ghost. Two or three raked across her body before dusclops could throw up her Protect, but she didn't need to do that. Instead, froslass blasted the aipom with a powerful Icy Wind from above: one that dusclops wasn't hit by thanks to careful aiming.

The aipom cried out in pain, Shadow Claw fizzling, and more pain was its part as dusclops moved in, launching a quick Fire Punch. Sure, the swablu hit another Dragon Pulse just afterwards, but that didn't matter. Dusclops could take a ton of punishment and come out okay.

Aipom, on the other hand, beat a hasty retreat, covered by a gust of Icy Wind from swablu's direction. The odd move only surprised Danny for a moment as he remembered that swablu could learn Mirror Move.

Froslass dove in with glowing mouth, but no cries of pain meant that Ice Fang had missed, sadly. It wasn't too much of a problem. Danny could wait. The hail was still pelting away at everyone, and the temperature was dropping. Dusclops wasn't immune to the hailstones, but she was better at withstanding lower temperatures as a Ghost. It would be slow, but eventually, Danny would win.

" _Let the opponent come and make mistakes,"_ Max had said when Danny had told him about the strategy he was now using. It had been in the making for a month or so, and it was working wonders.

Several Dragon Pulses flew from his opponent's end, but dusclops, while slow, had moved away. Froslass, meanwhile, was her slippery self, and probably nowhere near the balls. Danny didn't know what she was doing; he couldn't see her, meaning she was somewhere on the opponent's half.

The hail suddenly tinted purple, telling Danny exactly what his Ice-type had done. The Dragon Pulse that flew up into the air over the arena told him who'd been hit: swablu. "End the Hail and Will-O-Wisp!"

Froslass and dusclops obeyed, granting full vision of a swablu hovering unsteadily in mid-air and an aipom that looked tired. Not quite tired enough to not dodge the Will-O-Wisp, but the surprise attack from swablu – a Disarming Voice – knocked it out.

Swablu recovered from its confusion in the small downtime granted by aipom being returned, and tried to Mirror Move a Will-O-Wisp back, but the fire flickered and died as a Powder Snow intercepted it.

Before Danny could order an all-out attack, his opponent returned the swablu. "I yield!" she yelled across the field.

Just like that, Danny had made it through the first Double Battle. It felt a bit anticlimactic, but Danny supposed that his opponent recognised she had no real options. He tried to get a hold of her, but she was in the catacombs before he was, and it was disrespectful to chase after an opponent.

Danny sent out both of his Pokémon in an empty corridor, thanked them for their great teamwork and execution of the plan, and returned them, eager to go find his family in the audience. He walked up the stairs, hearing a pitched and explosive battle coming from the arena.

A woman moved down the stairs, and Danny didn't recognise her until she stopped him. "Great battle. Really hope to see more of you," Phoebe told him. "Maybe add a bit of diversity to dusclops.."

And then she was off again, leaving Danny slightly dumb-struck. Sure, he'd talked to Phoebe, and Sidney, and Drake, before, but to have an Elite Four member comment on your random battle, casual as anything, felt very surreal. Phoebe's quick departure didn't help.

His father needled him a tiny bit when Danny showed up slightly dazed, but he soon transformed into a messenger pidove, telling Danny that Max and Paul were through to the next round.

As it turned out, Keith was the only one of the group they had formed to go out in this round, and he seemed pretty okay with it, saying his opponent was plain better. That, in turn, set off short battle descriptions from everyone: Jane's battle had been hard-fought with her nuzleaf barely staying upright long enough to claim victory. Max, likewise, reported a nastily tough battle with grovyle and ninjask against a drowzee and a gabite, trained by someone on his second League.

On the other hand, Paul had apparently "won easily, duh", beating a hoothoot and a klefki – some Kalos Pokémon that looked like a key chain – with corphish and machop. Lastly, while Linda was very complimentary of her opponent, she had to concede that the type advantages her numel and baltoy had versus aron and volbeat probably won her the match outright.

They celebrated their wins – and unfortunate loss – with ice cream and waffles as they waited for other results to come in, to tell them who their opponents would be. Most of them, anyway, Danny amended mentally. Paul and Linda knew their opponent already.

Danny really hoped he wouldn't be stuck in his own battle for that.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Lance,_

 _Am uncomfortable with your idea. I see merit you propose well, but am fearful._

 _Can you explain in person? Schedule at your leisure._

 _Reg_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Welcome to the Ever Grande Conference!


	23. Chapter 23: Decision

******Disclaimer:****** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

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 **Chapter 23: Decision**

It was almost eerily quiet as Max walked across town at barely a quarter to eight in the morning. He'd drawn the earliest slot possible, meaning his battle was at nine, all the way across town to boot, and Max had decided to get some breakfast on the way, as opposed to in his hostel. The relative peace and quiet felt good: sometimes he just wanted to be alone to clear his mind and to think, and there was always someone around these days.

This morning, one thought was prevalent: he was lucky to still be in the tournament. His opponent had underestimated him. He didn't say so after the match, but Max knew better. He'd seen gaps in grovyle's defences when his starter clashed with the gabite; Leaf Blade against Dragon Claw. If his opponent or the gabite had noticed them, he would have lost, but they hadn't, and grovyle's Overgrow boost had proved to be able to finish the gabite off.

Going out in the first Doubles round would have been terrible, and it would've been worse if he had gone out to something stupid like that. He'd need to work on fixing those gaps after the League, when they were back in Petalburg. His father's zangoose and one of the vigoroth could probably help with it. And he should really look into getting a good sparring partner for grovyle, because neither he nor Danny really had one, and it was holding grovyle back in the fights that required hand-to-hand combat.

"Hey! You! Max!" Max heard a teenager call behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw his upcoming opponent – a Kanto boy by the name of Dale – a bit behind him in the streets, just outside one of the many other places trainers stayed. The thirteen year old from Cerulean – but apparently doing his first Gym circuit in Hoenn – raised a hand in greeting when he saw Max turn around and stop. "You ready for our battle?" he asked enthusiastically when he caught up with Max. "I saw your battle yesterday. That was awesome!"

"I got lucky," Max replied, grinning despite the message. The enthusiasm was infectious. "But thanks anyway. You did a great job in your battle too. Where did you get the delibird?" They started walking, Max walking slightly slower at first, but speeding up to match Dale's steps as he noticed it.

"Ice Path in Johto, about a year ago. My Yule present, you could say." Max barely restrained himself from groaning at the pun. "And you didn't get lucky. You were better, but gabite are just tough to finish off. Believe me, I had tons of trouble with Reginald's gabite, believe me," Dale told him. "What did Lance say about Dragons again? Hard to catch and raise, but really powerful?"

"Sounds right," Max agreed, keeping a straight face. "It takes a long time to get most of them to evolve, but when you do..."

"Watch out world, here I come!" Dale said, striking a ridiculous pose. He held it for a second before breaking it from laughter. "I don't have the patience for that. Oops, shouldn't tell you that."

"I didn't hear anything," Max replied, grinning, as the two turned a corner, bringing them to their destination. "Well, Stadium A, here we are," he said. "But first, breakfast," he added, making for the supermarket across the street.

"It'll be your last in this tournament, so enjoy!"

"You wish!"

Twenty minutes later, Max was inside one of the stadium's rooms, waiting. Like he had done before his first and second match, he sent out the Pokémon he'd be using. Bagon immediately made motions to climb in Max's lap, settling for leaning against Max's thigh after Max sat down on the floor in lotus position. "You're getting a bit heavy for this."

"Baaaa," came the sound of not caring too much, and Max smiled fondly; something mirrored by clefairy.

"Clefairy?" Max asked, capturing the attention of his Fairy-type. "There's probably going to be a Flying-type up against you. If you can use Gravity on it, then this lump," he said, poking bagon's head gently, "can land some heavy hits."

"Fairy."

They sat in silence until the clock told Max it was ten to nine. At that point, he returned the Pokémon, walked out of the waiting room, and joined Dale and the officials. "Good luck, Dale."

"Same to you. May the best Trainer from Kanto win."

Max's reply was cut off by the doors to the arena opening, revealing a rather empty stand opposite them. Apparently, nine in the morning was not a time for many to come watch.

Max heard Danny and Keith cheer him on as the battling Trainers walked out, but they were the only two his age, he saw a moment later as he turned around. Paul and Linda were nowhere in sight, nor was Jane, but she was preparing for her own battle, done at the same time as Danny's would be. Max's parents and Danny's Mum were also there, sitting a few rows below his friends, and for the first time this tournament, May was with them.

She looked like she'd rather be in bed.

"Prepare your Pokémon," the referee called as Max and Dale moved into their trainer's boxes. Max grabbed the two Pokéballs he wanted, and he saw Dale do the same. "Release!"

As Max had expected, Dale sent out a flying Pokémon, as he had done in the two previous matches. In the first, it had been a pelipper, and in the second, it was delibird. This time, it was a pidgeotto, paired with a flaaffy. It seemed an unorthodox pairing, because flaaffy couldn't really send electricity out when pidgeotto was coming in, but the safe guess was that they had trained for that.

Besides, he had the same issue with clefairy's Disarming Voice and bagon.

Max did send Dale a cheerful wave as the Cerulean-born teen took in bagon. He'd hear afterwards if Dale had caught it, because any reply was cut short by the referee yelling "Begin!"

Bagon, as he usually did, shot an opening salvo of Dragon Pulse at the other end, while Max ordered clefairy to use Metronome, resulting in two blue-purple balls that clefairy aimed at flaaffy, who'd already had to dodge the Dragon Pulse from earlier. One scored a grazing hit, while the other missed miserably.

Pidgeotto had flown up, and now dove down at speed, a faint glow forming around it. The bird passed right in between the dodging bagon and clefairy, It then executed a sharp turn right and up, before banking tightly about fifty feet up in the air, flying down at clefairy.

"Dragon Rage in front of clefairy," Max ordered as the pidgeotto banked, and bagon's attack ended up blocking a Thunderbolt sent clefairy's way. "Dragon Pulse on clefairy."

Pidgeotto shifted her path, missing clefairy and avoiding the Dragon Pulse that would have hit it otherwise. The flaaffy covered its retreat with a beam of pink and white light that passed between bagon and clefairy, who didn't need to move.

"Metronome again. Bagon wait," Max ordered.

The finger-waggling caused clefairy's foot to glow. "Dragon Pulse flaaffy," Max said as clefairy brought her foot down, sending a rippling effect down the arena. The Ground-type move – Max wasn't sure which one exactly – naturally missed pidgeotto, but flaaffy had to jump to avoid it.

It jumped right into the Dragon Pulse. "Great! Dragon Rage and Disarming Voice!"

The pair of attacks missed pidgeotto, who flew to the halfway line before flapping its wings harshly, producing a swirling tornado that connected to the ground near bagon and started moving. The tiny dragon scrambled to get out of the way, but he was still picked up and tossed about by the Twister, and flaaffy sent a Thunderbolt after it as well. Bagon caught only the faintest of edges of that as he rolled out of the way before getting up, roaring a challenge to the heavens.

"Easy now," Max coached, keeping an eye on the pidgeotto circling above. "Move closer together and let them come to you." Even as he said it, pidgeotto dove once more, wings aglow, going for clefairy. Excellent. "Now!"

Pidgeotto let out a high-pitched screech as a localised patch of Gravity overpowered its flight, sending it flying to the ground in front of clefairy. It crashed hard, and bagon had the easiest shot he would ever make with Dragon Pulse. He didn't miss it before leaping towards the pidgeotto.

Clefairy dropped the Gravity, but did it a moment too early as a Thunderbolt broke her concentration, and that allowed the flyer to narrowly avoid bagon's leap, instead cuffing him over the head with a wing. Bagon snapped at it, but the flyer was out of reach already, resuming its position overhead before flying back, moving towards the ground.

"Oh no you don't," Max muttered, assuming it was going to try to Roost. "Bagon, keep it off the ground. Clefairy, Metronome!"

A barrage of low-powered Dragon Pulses threatened to intercept the pidgeotto, and it flew back up, wary of being hit by one of the green globes once again. Metronome went off, and clefairy bounced across the field, nails glowing. "Shit," Max cursed. "Bagon, after her!"

Clefairy bounced far and high, easily avoiding the Power Gem flaaffy sent before descending on the pink Pokémon, scratching at its statically charged wool. Luckily, Static didn't seem to activate, and flaaffy was prevented from delivering a Thunderbolt by bagon's timely intervention.

That Dragon immunity Fairy types had was really coming in useful this match, Max mused idly.

Flaaffy unleashed several balls of white – Cotton Spore – at clefairy while pidgeotto swept down on bagon, with the Dragon doing a sideways roll to get out of the way. "Encore flaaffy!" Max yelled across the field.

The white orb hit flaaffy by the tail as it tried to dodge out of the way.

The pidgeotto wasn't having an easy time hitting bagon hard, as the Rock Head Pokémon made every attempt at biting the wings it was being attacked with. The bird held back from going for a full-out offensive because of that, but it also meant that it only really scored glancing hits on bagon's hard head, instead of across the more vulnerable body.

The pidgeotto flew up, and Max saw another round of Cotton Spores being fired, this time at bagon. "Ember!"

Most of the cotton on the field went up in flames as bagon spewed fiery cinders indiscriminately. Some of them hit clefairy, but that also burnt off the spores that clung to her, which was a trade Max was okay with. It enabled clefairy to be faster, which was one of her big advantages. "Get the flaaffy," he called.

Ember burnt most balls that might have been an improvised defence, and clefairy unleashed a Disarming Voice that obliterated the few that bagon hadn't. The attack missed flaaffy as the sheep-like Pokémon jumped over it, and bagon was prevented from landing another aimed Dragon Pulse by a hasty Twister that blocked the attack in a small explosion.

Encore was _probably_ still active, and pidgeotto was hovering close to the flaaffy, intent on unleashing more Twisters to defend it if need be. Perfect. "Gravity!"

Clefairy was further away this time, and trying to control a greater area to boot, but pidgeotto did drop like ten or fifteen feet, and flaaffy was locked in place.

The pidgeotto created a Twister, but far too late, and the Dragon Pulse, which was on the way to flaaffy, instead blew up the tornado, which sent the bird to the ground, spelling the end of pidgeotto.

Clefairy released the Gravity, hopping out of the way as a habit as Dale returned his Pokémon. "Split up now."

To flaaffy's credit, it was pretty fast, and good at charging a Thunderbolt mid-trot, using it to block a Disarming Voice and to push through to clefairy, who stayed put for a tiny bit too long.

But fighting two on one with the way Max's Pokémon were split up meant that there was always someone you couldn't see in your back, and the Power Gem that flaaffy tried charging rooted it in place long enough for bagon to set fire to the Pokémon's wool, interrupting its concentration and disrupting the Power Gem.

A few seconds passed in which the Electric-type dodged another Disarming Voice, but then, the flaaffy broke into a run, surrounding itself in bright gold electricity and moving faster than Max had expected. "Jump out!"

Clefairy did jump, but so did flaaffy, and the attack – whatever it was, Max didn't actually know – hit, sending the Fairy-type tumbling through the air before it bounced on the ground. Max returned clefairy without a thought, but when he looked up again, he also saw the flaaffy being returned, and he hadn't heard bagon do anything.

"Flaaffy is also knocked out. The winner is Max from Petalburg!"

Danny's cheering was definitely the loudest in the stands as applause greeted the Trainers while they walked out of the arena, bagon by Max's feet. The field had actually been damaged more than Max had thought, with several charred spots indicating Thunderbolt hits or explosions, and a small furrow from the Twister that had hit bagon as well. It hadn't felt like a match that caused damage, but it was one. Nothing too serious, and there were Pokémon on hand to repair the field if things got out of hand too much.

Dale and Max met at the exit and entrance, and they shook hands. "Great match. Awesome pairing, too." They moved inside, passing by the next two trainers to fight. "Did you select it just because of what I said earlier?"

"Nope," Max replied as they sat down on a bench, bagon climbing up in between them. "This was planned from last night, when I checked your Pokémon from the first two rounds." Max grinned at Dale, who returned it. "I have manectric for flyers, but you had that graveler."

Dale shook his head for some reason. "She wasn't cleared. Flaaffy was the next best counter I have. Wasn't quite good enough, but it was a fun battle. That's all that matters to me."

"Words to live by," Max agreed. "What was that last move?"

"Flaaffy's? Wild Charge."

"Of course," Max said, feeling a tiny bit stupid. "I thought it was Volt Tackle, but that's only the pikachu line, and it looks different."

"I see someone looked up the pikachu family after that charity match," Dale said drily. "I hadn't thought a pikachu could go toe to toe with a dragonite like that." The Cerulean teen shook his head. "Scratch that. I hadn't thought _raichu_ could go toe to toe with a dragonite."

"Ash's pikachu is an exception. A very big small one," Max said. His mind briefly went back to the last fight against Brandon. "I know he's beaten a regice."

" _What?_ "

"I was there."

By the time Max had finished a brief explanation of how he knew Ash, and a recap of the fight between regice and pikachu, the match on the television, showing what was happening in the arena they left earlier, had finished.

 **~~§~~§~~**

The two new trainers took the field, and Norman recognised one of them: a twenty-something man who'd fought against some of his strongest Pokémon, securing a draw with a cheeky Destiny Bond. The other one, some teenager from Johto, he didn't know, but just by age and experience, he was going to give it to the one he'd met.

"Norman?" Elizabeth said from his left, and the Gym Leader looked up from the field. "I believe this is yours by right." She placed a folded piece of paper in his hand, and when Norman looked down, he saw it was a banknote.

"We agreed round of 64," Norman replied, aware that May was looking at them weirdly. "Max just qualified for the round of 128."

"We agreed the round of 64, but the tournament grew, and so the actual round of 128 is the round we agreed on," Caroline countered. "Three wins is three wins, and neither of us foresaw the tournament growing past the apparent cap of the previous years."

Norman pocketed the money. "You make a compelling enough argument, and I get money out of it. What more could I want?"

"A daughter who knows what's going on?" May cut in harshly, all vestiges of sleep gone. "Did you bet on Max? You always tell me not to bet."

"I have guaranteed income, you..."

"Heard it before Dad. Stop saying the same thing over and over." Before Norman could say more, May stood up. "I'm going back to the hotel."

There were days that having teenage children was a curse, friends had told him. This looked like one of them alright.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Max and Danny left Stadium D in good spirits after Danny had joined Max in the round of 128. Aron and marshtomp had been able to withstand the rampant explosions and poisonous gases of the enemy grimer and slugma. It was nearing two in the afternoon, and they had about half an hour to make it to Paul and Linda's match.

The sight of a klefki floating by a young girl jogged Max's memory. "Danny? You decide Sinnoh or Kalos yet?" Max asked. He hadn't heard anything on it from Danny, but he hadn't asked either.

"Yeah. Last night."

Max saw that Danny was smirking, and he rolled his eyes. "Fine. What did you decide?"

"Kalos." Danny broke into a smile. "Dad and I talked a bit, and he told me I quote 'should not go to Sinnoh just because your parents met each other there' unquote. My journey, my Pokémon, my path." Danny placed a hand on Max's shoulder, slowing down. "And you're my best friend too. That's got to count for something, right?"

"I would have gone to Kalos alone," Max said softly. "Didn't even think about you until I told you about it."

Danny pulled Max onto a nearby bench, the sudden tug and Danny's greater strength making sure Max couldn't resist. "I know. And I don't care. Haven't cared about that since you left with Ash. Sure, I was angry first. That's why I didn't reply to your first letters."

"You were angry? I thought the mail had lost them." That had actually happened to one of May's first letters.

"I was angry because you just left. One day you're in school, and then you're not." Danny smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't happy, and that took a bit. Then Dad stepped in." Danny coughed, and Max braced himself for Danny's impression, but it didn't come. "He told me that some things were worth doing, and that you didn't just stop being my friend. He also told me you probably didn't think about leaving me behind, because you were too excited."

"Got that right," Max muttered. "But… Who wouldn't be?"

"Your sister back then, from what you told me," Danny replied drily. "Anyway, I replied, and you told me about amazing stuff." He paused. "I read through some of the letters last month. There wasn't even a hint of all the bad. With how much trouble you got into… That must've been hard."

"Practice makes perfect, and I had a lot of it. May too."

"I bet. Anyway, so last night, Dad reminded me of that, and I decided staying with you and seeing a new region _together_ sounded like a lot more fun. Besides," Danny added, breaking out a mischievous grin, "I think I'll be a better trainer if I stay with you. You've got amazing ideas, and I'm happy to use them."

Max's face went nought to searing in no time. "You can stop now."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Learn to take a compliment, sheesh. You're terrible at them. _That_ certainly wasn't the case before you left, I remember that much."

"Can we go watch Paul and Linda now?"

"Sure. Race ya!"

The head start Danny got from calling the race ended up being more than enough to let him win that particular race, even with Danny nearly stumbling over a croagunk trying to cross the street.

They quickly located Alice in the stands, and with a bit of asking, the boys got seats next to her just as the match before Paul and Linda's started. "Slow matches, huh."

"Just a dugtrio destroyin' the arena earlier," Alice replied. "Him 'n a tauros earlier. Took a while to repair. Least this looks less destructive," she added with a nod at the Pokémon on the field.

Max had to agree with her. Wigglytuff and machoke against croagunk and monferno just had less arena-destroying potential, and the worst that ended up happening was a few Pokémon being slammed into the ground. Standard fare, really.

"Well, here we go," Danny said as Paul and Linda walked into the arena, casting a few looks around. The trio waved at them. "Oh man, they look nervous."

"Fighting a friend isn't fun," Max replied. Morrison had taught Max that lesson all too well, right here in Ever Grande. "Not when the stakes are high. Sure, one of you is guaranteed to win, but the other loses."

Four flashes of light revealed the Pokémon that would do battle. "Oh no," Alice muttered, causing both Danny and Max to send her a look. "Hope Paul can keep it together."

Max could only agree, remembering more than a few remarks about Ghosts, and Linda had to have heard Paul talk about them as well. Had she sent out her yamask on purpose, to rile Paul? The hitmonchan was a good partner too: durable and with many different types of punches. "Sandslash is his starter, right?"

"Yeah. Pineco is pretty new. Caught it after we met ya in September. She likes exploding."

"That's not going to work against yamask," Danny remarked. "She's fast at disappearing."

Max nodded as the battle started. "Yeah. Had ninjask practice a bit with her."

Linda's hitmonchan blurred and vanished, opening the battle with a Mach Punch that pineco couldn't block before jumping over the same rippling effect clefairy had produced in his match. This time, the jumping Pokémon wasn't intercepted, and hitmonchan landed easily, bending his knees before pushing off to his right, towards the sandslash. The two then engaged in a spar: hitmonchan trying to land precise jabs from up high, and sandslash defending with glowing claws and ferocious slashes.

Yamask, meanwhile, had floated in pineco's general direction and was sending some fast but weak attacks attacks the Bug-type's way. They were all from medium range, though, and pineco was able to dodge most of them, even as she was forced ever closer to the edge of the arena.

Finally, pineco had come too close to the edge, forcing Paul to get her out of there. He did so by ordering a Gyro Ball on yamask.

The Ghost-type let the move hit her without even trying to dodge. Purple surrounded pineco's glow, and pineco herself once she stopped spinning. The purple was then replaced by light-blue: the same colour yamask was glowing ever so briefly. "Disable?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. And Mummy. Clever."

"Mummy?" Alice broke in without turning her head from the battle. "What's that?"

"Yamask's Ability. It suppresses the Ability of any Pokémon touching her for a while, replacing it with Mummy. It's harmless for pineco, but does Paul know that?"

Judging by Paul's orders to sandslash – apparently to disengage from the sparring match with hitmonchan thanks to a quick Dig and to attack yamask, he hadn't. The Dig hit yamask, and history repeated itself: purple, followed by light-blue. "What's sandslash's Ability again Max?"

"Sand Veil or Sand Rush. Does sandslash know Sandstorm?"

"Yeah," Alice confirmed. "And here it comes."

Sandslash spun on the ground, creating a storm that easily engulfed the middle half of the field, dense sand making it harder to see all the Pokémon, though not impossible, and sandslash was just as visible as the hitmonchan who rammed a blue-glowing fist into it.

Pineco did manage to get close enough to hitmonchan that her Explosion forced the hitmonchan away from the sandslash, but she, in turn, paid for that as an Ominous Wind washed over her.

The Pokémon went back to their own halves of the field, sandslash staying in the Sandstorm while the rest stood or hovered in less sandy air. Yamask sent two quick Shadow Balls into the storm, but they didn't do anything.

Max felt a tap on his arm. "Look at Paul," Danny whispered in his ear, and Max did so, even as the sandslash sent out another ripple attack.

Paul was leaning forward, with balled fists that made quick and harsh movements whenever he loudly ordered something. "Oh," he whispered back. "He looks pissed off."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "Not as bad as… _What!"_

Danny's exclamation made Max jump in his seat, but it was for good reason. Yamask was doing something… different. He wasn't even sure what it was, but it involved apparent chanting and moving in a pattern while power visibly started building up around it: a purple-black aura that was almost sickening to look at.

Mutters erupted around them, and from what fleeting words Max caught, none of them knew what was going on. In one of the big stadiums, the announcers might be able to fill the audience in, but here, announcer-less, everyone seemed to be in the dark. Paul certainly was, but he also guessed that whatever yamask was doing was dangerous, and he ordered both his Pokémon to interrupt it.

Hitmonchan was a capable defender for his partner as he forced the sandslash back with a quick Drain Punch jab, before Mach Punching pineco back to Paul's half. He then returned to punch sandslash with a second Mach Punch, sending the Ground-type off course just enough that it didn't disrupt the pattern that was forming.

Yamask's movement had begun to trail energy behind it; an off-white that formed a five-pointed star on the nearly black canvas in mid-air. Pineco tried one last Gyro Ball to disrupt it, sandslash being kept busy by hitmonchan, but it was too late. The attack formed, shooting a spear of energy at the duo fighting right in front of Linda.

Hitmonchan locked gloves with claws as he kept sandslash in place until the very last second, at which point he quickly moved out of the way. The bolt pierced an afterimage, and sandslash was hit head-on.

And the attack apparently did nothing.

Meanwhile, pineco hit yamask with another Gyro Ball, and to Max's surprise, the yamask lost her levitation, falling to the ground. There was a flash of purple as she hit the floor, and moments later, the referee ruled her out.

Pineco quickly followed suit, and Max remembered a battle two years back. "One on one now."

"Why did yamask fall? She's tougher than that," Danny said as sandslash dug its way into the ground, prompting Linda to order hitmonchan to move around. "At least it's equal still, but Paul might be able to come back now."

Sandslash sprung from the ground, missing hitmonchan with the jump, but hitting him with a claw on the way up. Hitmonchan then returned the favour with a regular jab as sandslash went back down, and the two resumed their spar for round three.

It started out equal. Hitmonchan hit another jab, but paid for it as a Crush Claw slammed into his stomach, and the next few attacks were all sandslash as the Fighting-type fought to recover and not suffer another hit like that. His parries were on point, as were the dodges, and slowly, he regained his footing, launching an Ice Punch to block another Crush Claw.

Sandslash yelped, and hitmonchan took the offensive, launching quick punches that Paul's Pokémon had to block to not be overwhelmed. At first, it did so relatively easily, using its smaller form to its advantage, but then, the speed started to wane.

One punch slipped through the sandslash's guard, then another one, and a third one, and Paul called sandslash back, the Ground-type escaping via Dig – the Disable having worn off at some point – a moment before an Ice Punch would have hit it.

It resurfaced about twenty feet away from the hitmonchan, and raised its foot to do that same ripple attack – and Max really needed to find out which move it was – for the third time in the match.

The ripple was far smaller than it had been earlier, requiring a simple hop rather than a full-on jump by hitmonchan.

Another tap on his arm. "Look at Laura." Max followed Danny's directions. "She's smiling like she's won."

Linda did look very relaxed as she didn't even order hitmonchan to attack, and the Fighting-type didn't. He just dodged whatever sandslash sent at him, which included another weak ripple, and then a Poison Sting that Detect cancelled out.

And then the sandslash just keeled over out of nowhere, to general confusion around Max.

The applause was just a tiny bit muted.

Alice, Danny, and Max rose, making their way to the passages that would lead them into the stadium's interior, and they soon found their friends. It wasn't hard to find them: Paul was close to yelling, and when Max turned the corner, he saw Paul stomping off in the opposite direction. Alice, with a look at her taller companions, hurried after him, while Danny and Max joined Linda. "What was that about?" Max wondered.

"Paul's angry I used yamask," Linda said, and though she tried to sound nonchalant, Max detected a hint of annoyance. And a stronger accent, too. "It's his problem he can't deal with yamask though. I mean, it's only a weak Ghost-type, what could it be doin' to your Pokémon all match long."

Yup, definitely annoyed.

Linda sighed. "Sorry y'had to hear that, but I won fair and square, and the referee said so too. He's just a sore loser."

Neither boy really knew what to say about that. "What was that move anyway?" Danny wondered, moving the subject away from uncomfortable stuff about your friends.

"You don't know it? Not even you, Max?" When Max shook his head, Linda giggled weakly. "It's a Ghost-type move, but a very dangerous one. Your Pokémon starts channellin' its life force into a Curse that'll drain the Pokémon that's hit by it. It takes ages to set up, but Paul's Pokémon were havin' trouble getting to her, so I told yamask to do it, and it worked out great for me."

Max went through what Linda said. "Life force? So that's why yamask fainted so quickly!"

Linda let out another, stronger, giggle, smiling broadly as well. "Yeah, and she knows Destiny Bond, so I could just take out the pineco with it as well. Paul really played into my hands in that match, and he's real pissed 'bout that."

"So, recap. Yamask gave sandslash and pineco Mummy, Cursed sandslash, _and_ used Destiny Bond on pineco?" Danny asked, receiving a nod in return. "Remind me not to underestimate you next time we spar," he added drily, to more laughter. "Yamask did work."

"Sure did."

There was one thing Max was still not sure about. "Did you choose yamask on purpose? Because Paul hates Ghosts?"

Linda gave him a weird look. "No. I just thought hitmonchan and yamask would be good against what I've seen from Paul. I didn't mean to do that, but I guess it did work in my favour."

"It probably did," Danny agreed.

It was another hour until Paul and Alice reappeared, and he gave Linda a grudging congratulation, and an apology as well. Privately, Max thought Alice was behind that, if the glare she sent her twin was any indication. It was a silent group of six – Keith and Jane having reappeared after Jane's elimination, while Linda had left – that went off to dinner a bit later.

Inside the restaurant, Paul excused himself, and the moment he left, Alice turned to Max and Danny, who were seated opposite her. "What happened? Paul wasn't tellin' me much."

"Short version," Max said with an eye on the door, "yamask Cursed sandslash. Costs life-force, but continuously saps energy from the target."

"She got Curse to work?" Keith chimed in. "Wow. Paul really screwed up there. It's really easy to interrupt the attack and it takes sableye about 30 seconds just to make it work! And he's angry about that? Stupid."

Alice's cry of protest barely met the absolute minimum required by the unwritten brother-sister pact.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _One-hundred and twenty-eight Trainers remain after Day 3 of the Ever Grande Conference. None of the top favourites have been knocked out yet, nor did any of our team see them in real trouble. The Rookies have largely been eliminated, with only six Rookies remaining in the tournament, down from the starting number in the high four-hundreds, and all of them are facing high Intermediates, Experts, and even one Ace, in the next round._

 _[…] Of the Rookies, users requested we paid special attention to the sole Gym Leader child currently in this tournament. Max Maple has currently battled his way through two other Rookies and an Intermediate second-time participant, showing a couple of rare Pokémon along the way. He is the youngest remaining participant. A link to his results can be found in the footnotes._

– Pokébet Ever Grande recap, December 3rd.

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 **Author's Note:** Abusing type-immunities in Double Battles: old hat since the original RSE games. Looking at you, Tate & Liza in Emerald.

Metronome usage: Psyshock, Bulldoze, False Swipe.


	24. Chapter 24: Divergence

********Disclaimer:******** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this. **  
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 **Chapter 24: Divergence**

They really had terrible luck, Danny thought for about the sixteenth time in the last twenty hours. Last night, the schedule for the round of 128 had gone up, and not only did Linda, Max, and he himself all have their battles at roughly the same time, it was also a dinnertime set of battles, _and_ Max was one match before Linda in Stadium C, while he was stuck all the way at the other end of town.

Danny could have used the support.

His opponent was the same one Keith had lost to, two rounds back. Maria something-or-other from Altomare in Johto was one of the long shots to win the tournament, and a professional Trainer. Not just some teenager like Danny and his friends – even if she was only eighteen – but a professional battler with a top 4 finish in Kalos under her belt.

Well, he wanted to get to the round of 128. Now to hopefully lose with some dignity intact.

A knock echoed through the room, jolting Danny from his thoughts. The previous battle had barely started, so it couldn't be the officials retrieving him. "Yeah, come in."

The door opened, and in walked the eighteen year old Danny had just been thinking of. "Ah, found you, good." Maria sat down opposite him, looking Danny straight in the eyes. "You look nervous." Danny gave a small shrug, one that prompted a soft smile. "C'mon, you can talk, right? We're both Trainers here."

"Sorry." Danny tried to smile, but it felt forced and weak.

"Right, so, Danny, look at me, will ya?" He obliged. "Are you nervous because I'm a professional battler?" Silence answered her question, and Maria took it as an affirmative. "Why? From what I know, you're well on your way to becoming one yourself."

"What?"

Maria raised her right hand, starting to count on her fingers. "One, you're twelve, and not thirteen for two months, so you got your badges in at most nine months. Probably less because of your travel partner. That's pretty fast." The thumb went down. "Two, you got some pretty good Pokémon already, and a good head for Pokémon-specific strategies and teamwork." The index finger went down. "Three, you already got Gym Leader praise for helping to take down a crime boss." Down went the middle finger, leaving her ring finger and pinky upright, wavering slightly. "Four… I don't actually have one. Didn't think this through too much, apparently." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Still, that's a lot of stuff already. I'm pretty sure I wasn't as good when I was your age."

Was this how Max felt whenever Danny showered him with compliments? Felt like it alright. "Thank you," Danny said softly, hoping that the burning sensation in his face would go away soon.

"I'm serious Danny. That strategy in the round of 512 was inspired, and the way you minimised the damage in the round of 256 was impressive. You earned your place to be here fair and square, and for someone with only ten months of experience – even if you're the Professor's family – to be in this round without getting plain lucky is great already."

On TV, one of the Pokémon was ruled out, Danny noticed. "Left after Max's birthday," he corrected. "Got eighth badge end of September."

Maria smiled widely, standing up as well, stretching. "You got eight badges faster than I did. I came here after the February Kalos Conference, and didn't get my eighth badge until October." She held out a hand for Danny to take, and as soon as he took it, she lifted him to his feet with surprising strength. To his further surprise, Danny was taller than his opponent by about an inch. "And sure, you probably had the easier Gym fights, but you still earned your place in this round. The only luck you had was the luck you made yourself."

"Probably ran out of it now."

His opponent smiled in a 'what can you do' manner. "Well, I'm certainly planning to beat you. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give it your all. Fight until the last, and don't be led like mareep, that is the way of good Trainers." She put her hand on Danny's shoulder. "That's the way _we_ roll. Now come. We have a match coming up. Let's make it a good one."

"Yeah, let's," Danny agreed, following Maria out the door.

His small support group, consisting of his parents, his uncle, and Keith, was easily located in the stands, having found seats close to the arena's level at Danny's side of the field. Max and Linda had Max's parents and sister, Jane, and Alice in attendance. Paul had left before any of them met up that morning, and he hadn't been seen since. Alice said Paul just needed a bit of time, and Danny figured she knew best.

He did a quick scan of the rest of the audience in that stand, wondering if his previous opponents were in attendance. He found none of them, but he did spot two other people in the audience.

Phoebe noticed him looking and gave a salute from the upper rafters, standing underneath one of the lights. Drake beside her was impassive as ever, arms crossed.

Maria gave a thumbs up from the other end of the field as the referee called for the Pokéballs to be shown. Danny returned the gesture before taking his own Pokéballs from his belt.

This time, he did catch both of the Pokéballs he threw, which meant he saw Maria send out her Pokémon. As he'd expected, she wasn't sending out anything simple like he'd faced so far. This was the real deal: raichu and nidoking would probably make short work of whismur and dusclops.

Time to stop that from happening.

"Echoed Voice!" Danny ordered as the battle got under way.

Waves of sound went down the field before meeting a weak jolt of electricity, which disrupted the attack just enough for nidoking to move through unhindered. The Drill Pokémon lowered his head, and the horn started glowing as he ran straight for dusclops.

"Protect, Echoed Voice!" Danny ordered, and dusclops threw the green shield up at the last second, not only making nidoking bounce off, but also blocking a Thunderbolt that raichu sent her way. Meanwhile, the second Echoed Voice slammed into nidoking, forcing him back a tiny bit. "Shadow Ball!"

The nidoking lit a Shadow Claw on his right hand and sliced right through the orb. At the same time, raichu sent a blue bolt into the sky, prompting small raindrops to start falling, and some rumbling to start overhead.

"Supersonic!"

Whismur moved sideways, a cone of sound missing dusclops, but annoying nidoking enough to make him clamp his hands over his ears, though the sound was too weak to stop raichu, who was standing far back. Nidoking was all Danny could really focus on.

A Shadow Ball hit nidoking just in time, his Shadow Claw coming too late to block the projectile, but Danny's attention was diverted by the raichu starting a run. Nidoking turned around, giving dusclops a free Shadow Ball and whismur a free Echoed Voice, but the nidoking gave raichu a huge boost, sending it straight up into the sky, over the wall of sound, as yellow started to spark around it.

"Protect!" Danny cried desperately as the raichu summoned the electricity from the clouds above, unleashing two gigantic bolts of Thunder, lighting up the evening sky to an almost unbearable brightness and engulfing both of Danny's Pokémon and their Protect shields.

Whismur's shattered, and nidoking was on her immediately, slamming his tail into her, sending her flying, right at where raichu had landed after using Thunder. The Mouse Pokémon was waiting with an Electro Ball on its tail, ready to slam it into whismur the moment Danny's Pokémon landed. "Dusclops!"

A quick and weak Night Shade intercepted most of the Electro Ball, but instead of whismur being hit by electricity, it was now flung back again as the attacks met and exploded. Raichu wasted no time, moving, escaping most of the explosion as it retreated back a bit, sending a quick jolt of electricity dusclops's way.

It was unavoidable because nidoking was already on dusclops, hemming it in with Shadow Claws that were just a tiny bit off every time. "Fire Punch!"

The Ghost-type took one of the Shadow Claws, but endured it to land a Fire Punch on nidoking's midsection. It didn't do what Danny had hoped: the nidoking just kept on attacking, and soon, dusclops was back to narrowly avoiding every attack.

He chanced a glance at whismur, who hadn't been knocked out just yet, but she was off to the side, dodging some long-range attacks from raichu, with no real way to counter.

There had to be a way for whismur to join… "Get closer to dusclops, then a wide Echoed Voice. Dusclops, Protect!"

As he ordered, so it happened, and dusclops fell back as well, and the two Pokémon met up behind a green shield. The shield withstood a Shadow Claw and a Thunderbolt before breaking, but that was enough time for whismur to summon the fourth Echoed Voice of the battle, forming a wall of energy that expanded to be about half the arena's width, and about as high as nidoking was.

Nidoking had no chance of dodging it, and actually looked a bit winded, but raichu easily jumped over the horned Pokémon, and upon landing, golden electricity flared around the Electric-type as it pushed off in the direction of Danny's Pokémon. The aura grew bigger and bigger, and raichu itself appeared almost black and white inside the cocoon. Danny had seen this attack before. Once, months ago. "Night Shade!"

The Night Shade landed, but it did squat. Raichu jumped straight into dusclops, and sheer kinetic energy made it and dusclops fly into whismur, who flew past Danny, into the back wall with a harsh thud. Dusclops only skid to a halt next to Danny, and she looked as knocked out as whismur probably was.

Well, he tried, and got royally beaten. Danny returned his Pokémon, not even waiting for the referee to rule officially, and thanked them for doing their best.

He felt tears trying to well up, but he dabbed at his eyes, telling himself 'no'. He had fought, and Maria was better. It happened, and it was only his first League.

Then, suddenly, Maria was at his side, clamping both of her hands on his shoulders. "That was a pretty good fight. You did well, and you should be proud."

Danny wasn't sure he could manage proud right there and then, but he could smile, however fake, as they walked off the field. Maria was waving at everyone, and prodded Danny to tell him to give a few waves. The audience gave them a thunderous round of applause.

Danny met up with Keith and his family outside, and after the requisite hugging and telling him he did great by his family – paired with amused faces on Keith's end as Danny's mother nearly smothered him – they started walking to the next stadium over.

They arrived just in time to see Linda lose as her golett was knocked out by a yanmega; the overlay telling them that nidorino and a metang had already been ruled out, but there was no result of previous matches to be seen anywhere. "Do we just call them?" Keith asked. "Ask what Max did?"

"I'm certain they will be here momentarily," Danny's Mum replied. She put an arm around Danny's shoulder, but he squirmed out from under it, and if she felt bad about that, Danny didn't care. He was too old for repeated doses of public parental affection, thank you. "We agreed that everyone should meet up here after all was said and done."

It was another good ten minutes – thankfully filled with some battling on the big screen in the latter half, or else Danny would have been bored to tears – until someone Danny knew appeared. "Knew you would be here!" he called to Ash as the teenager saw them and started moving towards them. "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" Ash replied with a big smile on his face, pikachu agreeing on his shoulder. "Caught a new Pokémon last week, caught a lot of battles here. It's weird to be here and not take part, but watching is fun as well."

"Well, I'll be doing that for the rest of the tournament," Danny replied, and Ash's face fell a tiny bit. "It's okay. She was better."

"Still, sorry to hear that," Ash said, and pikachu added something that sounded similarly consoling. "Ah, there they are."

Max was talking to Linda, whose head was bowed, shoulders slightly slouched. Danny could understand that: it looked like it had been a close battle, and losing like that always felt bad. On the other side of the adults, Alice and Jane were talking about something: probably drawing, which was a hobby they shared. May was talking to her mother, and Max's Dad was talking on his Pokénav, but he clicked it shut before the two groups met.

Danny moved over to Linda and gave her a fierce hug, unasked for, but she returned it immediately, gripping him tightly, and when she raised her head, Danny saw that her eyes were red-rimmed. "Than' you," she said. "'m sorry about this."

Keith also joined them, and after hugging Linda, he spoke up. "So, both of you are out as well?"

Linda and Max looked at Danny, who shrugged. "Maria was way better. Turns out raichu are pretty powerful." On a whim, he turned to Ash. "Sorry pikachu, but it's true."

Pikachu reacted exactly like Danny had hoped he would, blowing a raspberry and making Keith and Alice chuckle, and even Linda managed a smile.

"Actually..." Max broke in softly, instantly capturing Danny's attention. Their eyes met in the lamplight. "I… I won. I'm in the Victory Tournament."

Pure, unrestrained joy filled Danny, even as Keith's surprised yell hurt his left ear. "You did it. You actually did it!" They exchanged a double high five. "Told you you could do it."

"Yep, you did." Max's grin was as wide as Danny had ever seen, and he knew his own was at least as wide. "Tough battle, but manectric came through in the end."

"He was amazin', that's what," Linda added softly, her voice still raw. "Kinda feel like you been goin' easy on me in sparrin' now."

"I do not!"

"Regardless," Norman interjected. "Let's go and celebrate. Max?" The Gym Leader's son looked up. "It's your win. Where do you want to go?"

The pizza parlour staff was a bit taken aback when the group of eight teenagers and five adults shuffled in, but two tables moved somewhat close together worked well enough, along with the adults sitting at their own table.

The chatter was great, and the pizzas were even better. The parlour added drinks free of charge when they found out why the group was there, and if other people were bothered by the loud laughter coming from the teenager table, they at least didn't say it.

Nearly all of the teenagers were eating ice cream when Keith suddenly put his bowl down. "Hey Max?" he asked, prompting Max, and most of the others too, to look at him. "Do you want some help with training tomorrow? I'd be bored all day if I had nothing to do." There'd be no battles tomorrow, to give everyone in the Victory Tournament a day to recuperate.

"Sure," Max said, shrugging. "It'll have to wait until after the draw, though."

"The nine o'clock in the morning draw," Keith clarified. "Better you than me, Max. Better you than me," he said, to general laughter. "I found a perfect spot to train. Call me when you're done with the draw, okay?"

"And me too," Jane added. "We Petalburg kids have to stick together."

Danny saw Alice and Paul exchange a brief glance and a nod. "Paul 'n me too."

"Of course I'll help my little brother," said May, and the two siblings exchanged silly looks. "Maybe he'll listen to me now," she added with a wink.

"I'm in too," said Linda from Danny's left, leaving her message at that in order to resume devouring her massive sorbet. Where she found the room for that gigantic thing, Danny didn't know. His stomach felt queasy just looking at it.

"And I was going to come along already," Danny said as the next in line. "Going to be a bit busy there, Keith. Hope your spot is good."

"It is!"

"I can't help you, Max," Ash said, and Danny saw a hurt look or two from across the table, though Max wasn't among those. "You seem to have enough help already, and I'm stuck meeting someone tomorrow. League Champion stuff." That explanation soothed the hurt looks.

All eyes turned on Max, who abandoned whatever he was thinking about in order to respond. "Well… thanks guys. Just… thanks."

"Don't thank us now. Maybe we'll all hinder you," Keith broke in, winking to tell everyone that he was kidding. "But it's like that book says. All for one..."

"And one for all!" the four other Petalburg School children finished in varying degrees of loudness. "I had to read that too," May added when Keith and Jane gave her weird looks. Neither responded, and everyone went back to their dessert.

It was past ten when they walked into their hostel room. "You're coming with me to the draw, right," Max asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Probably," Danny agreed as he threw his shirt in the hamper, "but if you want me to, I'm going to bed now."

"Go ahead. I'll stay up for a bit." Max smiled sheepishly as Danny grabbed his toothbrush. "Still a bit excited," he added, not that Danny had expected anything else.

Sleep came quickly.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Despite the short sleep – he had gone to bed far past midnight, when his body finally told his brain it was past time to do so – Max woke up before the half past seven alarm, as rested as he'd ever felt.

He still had some trouble believing what had happened. Sure, he knew some rookies made it to the later rounds of any tournament: it happened every three or four Leagues. Morrison, despite being Ash's age, had been one of those. Ash himself had done the same in his first tournament, winning four battles before losing the fifth thanks to Team Rocket and charizard, against another first timer to boot.

He hadn't expected to join them in that list, but at the same time, he didn't even feel like it was luck that got him through the last battle. It had been tough for sure, but vulpix and manectric never made Max feel like he was in trouble against a miltank and a noivern. The Kalos Dragon-type hadn't been too much of an issue after the first minute and a Thunder Wave-Hex combination, even if it took some more time to be knocked out. Miltank was a bit more resilient, but she fell before manectric ran out of electricity. That was probably a good thing: miltank had a lot more weight and strength to throw around.

Their alarm went off while Max was in the shower, and when he exited the bathroom, Danny was waiting for him, towel in hand. "Morning."

"Morning," Danny returned, not a hint of drowsiness in his voice. "What time did you go to bed?"

"Past midnight."

"You're going to pay for that," Danny teased him before moving past, into the bathroom.

Danny was probably right, but Max would enjoy it while it lasted.

The main Pokémon Center lobby was quite full of Trainers in various stages of wakefulness, or lack thereof, Max noticed as he walked in, alone. Danny hadn't been allowed in: only Victory Tournament participants were given access, no exceptions.

Another thing that he noticed was that he was by far the youngest there. Pretty much nobody else he saw looked a day under 14. It was logical – he knew he was the only first time participant to make it through – but knowing it and seeing it were two different things. It was weird.

The draw itself was boring. Just five minutes of listening to a speech and then about ten minutes waiting for the draw to resolve on a large screen. Max ended up in the bottom half of the schedule, which meant his match was in two days, giving him a bit more time to train.

With the draw over, Max patiently waited for his turn at the computer for a glimpse at the online profile of his opponent. He knew the name – Ryan Reilly – but that was it. Max hadn't watched any of his matches, and he hadn't been the one to beat Linda or Jane either.

Just as he was about to sit down at the chair, someone tugged on his arm, turning him around. "Huh. So you're the pipsqueak I have to beat," said a tall, black-haired teenager in a purple koffing hoodie. "Just give up now and I won't send you home crying for Mommy."

"Nice to meet you too, Ryan," Max said, stepping back so he didn't have to look up, the back of a chair pressing against his spine. "I—"

"Yeah yeah," Ryan interrupted, moving closer until he towered over Max. "No need to wish me a good match. It'll be one alright. Easiest match I'll have all tournament." He pushed Max aside hard, forcing the younger boy to grab hold of someone else not to fall over. "Oh, look, you do have six Pokémon. Wasn't expecting that."

"What's your problem?"

"Problem?" Ryan let out a short and harsh laugh. "There _is_ no problem. I just got handed a ticket into the round of 32 on a silver platter.." Another laugh. "Later, loser."

Max watched him walk off, glaring for a second before he realised that wasn't going to do anything. He walked the few steps back to the computer he'd been waiting for and quickly checked Ryan's data. Third League, after Vertress and Indigo, sixteen years old, fifteen eligible Pokémon… That was all Max really wanted to know for now. He walked off, but before he could exit the lobby, someone tapped on his shoulder. "Yeah?" he said, turning around and recognising the teen opposite him as the one he'd grabbed to stay upright. "Oh, right, sorry about that."

"It does not matter," said the blonde teen, a Kalosian accent obvious in his words. "I just wanted to wish you good luck against him. I think it would be most… appropriate for him to lose now. Wouldn't you agree?" he added, smiling at Max.

Max shrugged. "We'll see what happens. I'd love to beat him, sure, but…"

"Your age and experience might be a factor?" He didn't wait for Max to answer. "You forget, it's not just that. It's also what's in here," he said, pressing a finger into Max's hair, "that is important. And he's going to underestimate you. That is a great advantage."

That was true, Max supposed. "Thank you..."

"Nicholas. I'm from Lumiose in Kalos."

"Thank you Nicholas, and good luck in your own match."

"The same to you."

He met Danny outside, his friend looking up from the Pokénav as Max walked up. "Checking the draw out?"

"Uhuh. Tough opponent you got, but there aren't any easy ones left."

Max shook his head. "Not really, no. And my opponent is a turd."

"Let me guess. He thought you're going to be a walk-over."

"Yes. How do you know that?"

"Guy in a koffing hoodie walked by, loudly telling a friend he was as good as in the round of 32, and his face looked a lot like the picture of your opponent," Danny said. "I think I know what you want to do today and tomorrow." He clipped the Pokénav on his belt and turned around. "C'mon. Keith and Linda are already there, and they said they'd call the others."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Small microphones and shields dampening outside sounds were new from the time Ash had stood here, Max knew, but after an incident in the previous Ever Grande Conference involving a high-pitched whistle and an arcanine, the Conference had given in. He could hear the audience's enthusiasm, and he could make out some of what the announcer said if he focused on it, but otherwise, he and Ryan were in their own bubble, ready for their mid-day battle in the round of 64.

They'd start out on a Water field, followed by the Rock field once three Pokémon on one side fell. Max wasn't too happy with the Water field, mainly because he knew Ryan's Pokémon included a seadra and a tentacruel, and poliwag just couldn't brawl with them.

Ryan had to send out his Pokémon first, and a wartortle appeared on one of the platforms. Not nearly as threatening as some of the other Pokémon Max was expecting. He thought for a second, debating whether it was a good idea to show manectric now, but then he discarded the idea. Not enough room to move around for manectric. "Natu, come on out!"

His most recent capture appeared, chirping once. Max knew his male Tiny Bird Pokémon could hop from platform to platform, and he was okay with that. It'd be a small field with not a lot of room to dodge, but natu didn't need a lot of space either. "Begin with Hidden Power!"

The attack was never going to hit, but Max figured he'd use it anyway to force the wartortle into the water. Better to have Ryan react to him than the other way around. "Wait for it to emerge, then Confusion."

Wartortle popped up to natu's right, but the Psychic-type quickly grabbed it, flinging the Water-type away right at a nearby platform as a few bubbles hit him. The wartortle managed to let its shell absorb most of the impact, but it was a good warning shot, and it bought natu time to hop away, widening the gap with another two platforms.

Max saw wartortle tense its legs. "Ominous Wind," he ordered, and natu whipped up the attack as the wartortle flew through the air, engulfed in white energy as it tried to hit a Skull Bash.

Then wartortle experienced the same thing Max himself did a month and a half back, crying out in distress, losing focus slightly. If it hadn't it might have been able to hit natu after sticking the landing, but it didn't now, and natu had been free to hop away another platform, sending a Hidden Power at the fallen wartortle for good measure. It wouldn't do too much, but every little bit helped.

Ryan ordered a Water Gun, and Max just smiled. Diverting Water Guns had been most of natu's practice the day before, helped by marshtomp, poliwag, Keith's staryu, and Jane's wingull, often multiple at a time, though from the same direction. Shoving this stream of water to the side was easy. "Keep it up natu. You're doing great."

Another Bubble, another Confusion-induced throw. Sure, the bubbles hit natu, but wartortle hit a wall head-first, sliding into the water afterwards. Unless Ryan pulled out another move or returned his Pokémon, he wasn't going to get anywhere.

Blue light spread through the clear water, evoking a bit of fear in Max. Torrent was always trouble. "Follow the light. Ominous Wind."

Natu's timing at releasing the attack was perfect. The Ominous Wind hit wartortle as the shelled Pokémon jumped out of the water, and even though it had a lot of speed and passed through the haze quickly, it was still a good hit.

Then Max saw the wartortle retreat in its shell, the blue glow intensifying. "Shit."

The shell started spinning, unleashing a humongous amount of water from each of the four openings, and with how close it was to natu, there was no dodging. Natu was swept away by the water, hit the wall himself, and wartortle slammed itself into him on the downward part of his arc out of the water. It was too much for natu. "Good work natu. Time to rest."

Wartortle stayed in the water, hiding outside of Max's sight, but the blue glow was diminishing quickly. "Poliwag, you're up!"

Max's Tadpole Pokémon dove into the water as she came out, surfacing to show the referee she was ready. Wartortle did so too, at the other end of the field, but as soon as the referee lowered his flags, both Pokémon dove again. Max shifted his attention to one of the big screens showing the underwater battle.

Poliwag started by firing a Water Pulse warning shot, but wartortle dove under it, trying to get in closer. It was the faster swimmer, but poliwag was fresher, and actually had ranged attacks. Everything wartortle could do from range that Max had seen would only end up helping poliwag: she did have Water Absorb. That left just Skull Bash, and wartortle needed a solid object to push off for that. "Water Pulse when it's near a pillar or the wall," Max said loudly, hoping that the poliwag could hear him from seven feet under the surface.

Judging by what happened, she had, or she had the same idea. Either option worked. Wartortle tried to use Skull Bash, but was intercepted by a Water Pulse that knocked it out. Poliwag jumped out of the water, and wartortle dissolved into red energy.

Max didn't have to wait long for another Pokémon to appear, but he did have to check what that Pokémon actually was.

 _Cryogonal, the Crystallising Pokémon. They are born in snow clouds, and use chains made of ice crystals to capture prey._

An Ice-type made sense to send out. "Water Pulse, let's go!"

Ice Shards pierced the ball, and the little water that hit the Ice-type froze almost on contact. The Ice Shards were similarly useless by the time they reached Max's Water-type. "Into the water, poliwag."

Poliwag dove in, easily avoiding an Ice Beam that created a narrow ice floe that lasted about two seconds before a Water Pulse from below shattered it, and the ice and water that was sent up blocked Max's sight for a bit, and cold water lapped at his shoes.

Cryogonal fired off several bursts of Ice Beam, creating more floes, but nothing that poliwag couldn't break through if she wanted to. For now, she didn't appear to want to do it anyway, instead firing rapid-fire Water Pulses from an arc in front of cryogonal. Some of them were blocked, while others hit: Ryan's Ice-type didn't seem inclined to move out of the way, and it took longer than Max expected when firing Ice Beams..

The cryogonal started charging an attack, undeterred by a Water Pulse hitting it in the face, and at first, Max thought it was just a more powerful Ice Beam. It looked the same, only charged, not fired nearly immediately.

Then, hints of white and purple appeared in the ball. "Out!"

Poliwag heard Max, but Max's order only ended up hurting her more. The Freeze-Dry attack hit the water's surface near where poliwag was planning to jump out, and the water, supercooled by the attack, turned from helpful to painful in an instant. The Tadpole Pokémon left the water with a cry, flopping onto the platform as a second round of Freeze Dry descended on her, scoring a direct hit.

Max was surprised when he saw his poliwag stumble up. She looked shaky, but willing to fight. "Water Pulse again!"

Even tired, poliwag was quick at forming a regular Water Pulse, and it slammed into the Ice Beam that cryogonal fired close to the Ice-type's body, creating an explosion that didn't move the floating Pokémon at all. It did give poliwag the time to escape, jumping away onto an ice floe that had been formed earlier.

That was a mistake.

The ice floe broke under poliwag's weight, plunging her into the icy water, prompting a shrill "Poli!" as it happened. When she jumped out, cryogonal was waiting with a flurry of Ice Shards that were unblockable and unstoppable. Poliwag landed harshly, tried to get up, but had to give up.

Max ran through his options. Manectric, and vulpix too, had the problem with not enough mobility, while grovyle and ninjask were weak to Ice. He really should have seen this coming, and he could slap himself for the problem with his line-up, but it wouldn't change anything.

Type-wise, Max knew he should pick vulpix, but it seemed too obvious. Many Ice-types learned some Water-type move, and even Rain Dance would just be plain bad for vulpix. Or falling into the icy water: that was never a good thing for any Fire-type...

"Mr. Maple, your Pokémon?" the referee interrupted Max's musings from his position thirty meters down.

Max decided to go with the Pokémon he had originally planned to use as his third Water field Pokémon, but he didn't like it. "Ninjask, it's your turn!"

He'd done it before, using ninjask to defeat a type advantage, but it was risky. Then again, nothing wagered, nothing gained. "Ninjask, Double Team and Shadow Ball, go!"

Ninjask zipped off upwards, copying itself until about a dozen of him flew into the low sun, the copies moving sort of independently from one another. All of them turned around, flying at the Ice-type, but three of them stuck lower than the rest.

The three lower ninjask got blasted by an Ice Beam, but none of them were real, which was revealed to be the one furthest away from Max, and a Shadow Ball hit the Ice-type.

It didn't do much. So much for that plan.

"Fury Swipes!"

Ninjask dove low, skimming the water's surface so closely a trail of water vapour appeared behind him, adjusting his path just enough to avoid the Ice Beam and Ice Shards that would ruin the attack. The turn up towards cryogonal was almost a right angle, crossing the five feet nearly instantly, and the ninjask started his attack, putting an extra burst of energy into it.

Once, twice, three, four times he was able to rake his claws across cryogonal, turning so tight Max knew it would tire ninjask a bit, but that was the way Fury Swipes worked. The Ice-type had started forming Ice Shards as it was hit for a fourth time, and ninjask instead sped off straight up, lazily avoiding the shards by going horizontal instead of vertical, and avoiding an Aurora Beam – that one was new – by banking down again, claws glowing crimson in a Fury Cutter.

One.

Ninjask flew off without issue. Cryogonal was just too slow to respond, even with Ryan motioning hard.

Two.

Max's Bug-type flirted with danger, rolling _around_ an Aurora Beam sent after it before plunging straight down, aiming for cryogonal's back.

Three.

Max saw Ryan shout something, and the Ice-type started charging another attack; another Ice Beam from the looks of it. The ball wavered, but didn't falter, as cryogonal cried out in pain as another set of pincers raked across it.

Four.

Ninjask came in hard and fast, flying at top speed, ready to deliver the finishing touch to the tired cryogonal. In fact, the cryogonal fell from the air already, as if it lost the ability to… hov… "Ninjask, abort!" Max yelled as he realised what was about to happen.

Five.

Cryogonal hit the water, displacing quite a bit of water with its weight – upwards of three hundred pounds. At the same time, it unleashed its Ice Beam, instantly freezing the displaced water, creating a spiky barrier a few feet high to protect itself from the ninjask, who was coming in at an obtuse angle.

Ninjask had enough kinetic energy that he broke the barrier, but he also lost control of his flight, and the light Bug flew into something about twelve times its weight, hitting it right in the face and forcing both Pokémon into the water.

The still icy-cold water.

Ninjask floundered in the water, trying to get out, but before it could do so, cryogonal was upon him, spinning, slamming its body into him. This did cause ninjask to leave the water, but uncontrolled, and the Aurora Beam follow-up was spot-on, both bathing ninjask in an Ice-type attack and adjusting his trajectory just a tiny bit, right into a wall.

"Ninjask is unable to battle. There will now be a five minute break to switch fields."

"You came close. Good work ninjask," Max said, returning ninjask and taking a good look at the overview currently on one of the big screens. Three Pokémon knocked out to one, and even if cryogonal was visibly on the ropes, it wasn't knocked out yet, and that meant it remained a threat.

Max walked down the stairs to the Trainer's box and took a left, towards where Danny, Ash, and Linda had managed to take seats three matches back. He caught a bottle of water, freshly cooled too. "Thanks."

"Tough break there," Danny said as Max opened the bottle, draining a quarter of it in one go. "Good attempt, though. Should be able to knock it out."

"That's not the problem. The problem is doing so without getting hit."

"Details, details," Danny said, waving his hand nonchalantly, but Max felt Danny's heart wasn't into it. "You went with the six we talked about last night?"

"Yup. And I'm not planning to give up without a fight." They lapsed into silence, Max thinking about how to proceed. He had noticed at some point that Ryan's Pokémon only attacked when he ordered them to, but Max couldn't exploit that with a Smokescreen or something.

"You can still win," Ash spoke up suddenly, and the younger teens, as one, turned to him. "Just stick with your style. It took you this far, and you're not going to win if you switch it up." He smiled, softening his words. "Stick to what you know and keep at it. You'll get him."

The one minute warning echoed through the stadium, and Max handed the half-empty bottle back. "Let's kick this arrogant jerk back to Unova."

"That's the spirit," Ash said, and pikachu concurred from his position on Ash's shoulder. "Good luck!"

"Good luck!" several others, not just Danny and Linda, echoed as Max started walking back to the raised rocky field.

Ryan was already waiting for him in the opposite box, mimicking falling asleep as Max put his microphone back on. Cryogonal was still out, and Ryan wasn't making any move towards replacing it, even though it still looked very tired. Ninjask must have pushed it even more than Max had thought.

"Manectric, show him what you've got!"

There was no time to waste. Max needed the Ice-type gone before it could hit manectric or freeze half the field. "Open with Fire Fang!" Manectric broke into a run, slipping from rock to rock for cover against the Ice Beam the cryogonal was creating, but the Ice-type held it. "Show yourself for a bit longer!"

Max's four-legged Pokémon did just that, and cryogonal fired the Ice Beam, completely missing the mark as manectric jumped to the side, pushing off against the rock, launching herself at the cryogonal with mouth aflame.

Mission accomplished.

Max held a hand on his belt. If Ryan had selected his marowak, he'd use it now, and Max would put grovyle in.

It was an arcanine who came out, the choice also making Max flirt with switching for a second, but he dismissed that option. Arcanine outweighed vulpix, and all vulpix had to work on the Fire-type was Hex, assuming the arcanine had Flash Fire. It was all up to manectric now.

The fight started out slow. Manectric tried a Thunder Wave, and arcanine tried a short Flamethrower, but both attacks passed the other by without issue, completely missing either Pokémon as they had moved out of the way.

The two Pokémon started circling each other, arcanine moving in a slow prowl, manectric jogging a bit more to minimise her profile against the arcanine.

Ryan broke first, ordering arcanine to charge in with a Flare Blitz. The Fire-type went from slow to fast in an instant, cloaking itself in flame, but manectric was _faster_ , using her smaller frame and greater speed to dodge the arcanine, letting it shatter one of the many rocks that littered the field.

It was like the cryogonal fight. Arcanine looked slow, but hit hard, while Max's Pokémon were faster, and, up until now, not as heavy hitting. That wasn't the case now, though. "Close, Discharge."

Manectric blurred into action, nimbly weaving around another Flamethrower while charging a powerful Discharge. She didn't stop moving while unleashing her Discharge either, though she did slow down. Arcanine wasn't prepared for that, and while its initial dodge was on point, manectric's movement landed her a solid hit.

Arcanine shrugged the electricity off, sending another Flamethrower manectric's way. The fire came uncomfortably close to manectric, but the smaller canine dropped to the ground, head sideways, to avoid the flame, which split upon one of the rock formations.

Arcanine thought to take advantage of manectric lying down by going into another Flare Blitz, but that worked exactly like it had the first time. Max's Pokémon was too slippery, and she launched a quick and weak Thunder Wave at the recovering arcanine after it demolished yet another rock.

Ryan recognised that this wasn't going to work, and ordered his Fire-type to Dig.

Manectric broke into an erratic run, trying to avoid her opponent, and her moving paid off. She did flinch a tiny bit when arcanine popped up six feet away, but she wasn't hit fully, and that gave her just enough time to jink away from the descending arcanine trying to flatten her with its weight.

What was more important was that arcanine didn't stick the landing. "Thunder Fang!"

In a flash, manectric bit down on arcanine's tail, to audible annoyance of the Fire-type, who tried to retaliate with a Flamethrower. By the time it had turned around, however, manectric had jumped up, onto the arcanine's back, biting down into the fur with another Thunder Fang, pushing electricity into arcanine's system.

Ryan was definitely losing his cool at the other end, but the battle wasn't over yet.

Manectric jumped off just in time to avoid arcanine setting itself on fire with Flare Blitz, which it then broke off, replacing it with a subtle red aura. "Quick Attack out!"

The Outrage was a sight to behold.

Arcanine charged after manectric, snarling, barking, uncaring about obstacles or the Thunder Wave manectric pushed out. One rock was obliterated, and arcanine didn't care. Another rock cracked when arcanine jumped onto it, using it as a launch pad for a lunge at manectric, though it missed. A third rock was also shattered, and the debris from that actually hit manectric on the head, stunning her for perhaps half a second, which was more than enough for the hot-on-her-heels Fire-type to ram into her, sending her flying off.

Miraculously, manectric was able to recover without too much issue, getting up nearly immediately and jumping into the tunnel arcanine had made when it used Dig earlier. Arcanine went after it, Outrage blinding it to other options, but the Electric-type traversed the tunnel faster, emerging from the other end already sparking.

The Discharge was well-timed and spelled the end of the Outrage, though a vague haze remained in arcanine's eyes. "Now's your chance! Finish it!"

Manectric started her run over the rubble-strewn field, quickly slipping into a circling Quick Attack motion as arcanine shot Flamethrowers in every direction, including down, but none came close to the running canine as she made the circle smaller, giving arcanine less room to move around.

Then, she lit the Spark, and turned on a dime, slamming herself into arcanine's right hind leg, bodies parallel to each other. Her mouth was somewhere near the arcanine's midriff, and she bit down on it, creating another point for the electricity to flow into the Fire-type.

Ryan's canine went to its knees, and they buckled a moment later as manectric pushed more electricity out, lighting up the arcanine. Small debris crackled and popped around the two Pokémon.

Arcanine keeled over, and Max's eyes shot to the referee, instantly.

"Arcanine is unable to battle!"

Max couldn't resist a fist pump as manectric jogged up, tongue out. She was panting slightly as Max knelt by her. "Great work girl. Can you do some more?" The bark and lick that made up manectric's reply were very enthusiastic. "I don't know why I ask. C'mon girl, time for round 3."

Ryan's fourth Pokémon was another Unova Pokémon. This one, Max did know, thanks to Roxanne. Then, electrike had lost to a boldore, tired as she was after defeating a lairon. Now, manectric was tired, but she also had much greater speed and more power to use against the immobile Rock-type.

Boldore started by charging its crystals, firing them off in a Rock Blast, but dodging large and relatively slow-moving objects was easy for manectric. The follow-up Stone Edge was a lot harder to avoid, and two or three of them grazed the canine on her flank.

That was a signal for boldore to start launching a lot of the debris that manectric and arcanine had made, though manectric was nimble enough to keep dodging nearly all of them. "Discharge!"

The Discharge was as powerful as the first one that manectric had used, but it did take her longer to generate that same strength attack. Boldore couldn't do much about it anyway: the Stone Edge rocks disintegrated when faced with the Discharge, and two Rock Blast projectiles connected, but those were too late to stop manectric.

Crackles ran over boldore's body. "Spark!" Max ordered, seeking to press his advantage.

Manectric jumped on the boldore to deliver her electricity, taking a Rock Blast to the torso as she did that. The attack threw her off boldore, and the Rock-type clearly wanted to follow up on it, but couldn't thanks to its muscles locking up.

Manectric made her way over to Max, putting distance between her and her opponent. She looked a lot worse than before, and suddenly, he wasn't so certain about her being able to beat boldore. One good hit probably would knock her out, and with the amount of debris boldore was capable of using – most of the field had been reduced to rubble by arcanine's Outrage – such a hit was inevitable.

Max nodded to himself. He didn't like it, never had, but it was the best plan he had. "One last attack. Give it everything you have."

Once again, manectric charged up her Quick Attack and Spark combination attack, ignoring any Stone Edge rocks that hit her. She had one goal: to weaken boldore as much as she could, and Max knew she would do her utmost best in doing that.

The suicidal rush was successful, and while it clearly knocked manectric out without boldore's help, Ryan's Rock-type didn't exactly come off unscathed. Several of its legs stopped working, and from this distance, Max was unsure if it was because it was nearly defeated or because it had issues with electricity causing spasms.

Not that the difference was relevant.

"Take a long rest. You were amazing," Max said as he returned manectric, clipping the Pokéball on his belt before taking one of his remaining two Pokémon. "Grovyle, there's work for you!"

Max's starter took the field, crouching as he came out, taking stock of the field and his opponent.

Was it his imagination or did he hear a satisfied cry?

"Leaf Blade," Max said as the referee lowered his flags for the… eighth time? "Start right!"

Grovyle shot right, drawing out a Rock Blast, at which point the Grass-type jinked left, and left again after a second Rock Blast, almost approaching boldore from the side. The Rock-type turned on instinct, wanting to follow its opponent, but that was when grovyle moved in, lighting up the Leaf Blades and pressing both of them into boldore's front.

Grovyle used the Leaf Blades and his legs to push himself up onto boldore, and immediately, he pressed his hands on boldore's body, gripping it tightly despite the Rock-type trying to Rock Blast him off, but failing miserably at all but one attempt. The energy absorbed by Max's Pokémon probably allowed him to shrug it off.

From being two Pokémon down, even if one of them was nearly completely spent, Max had managed to bring it back to a tie.

At the other end, Ryan was not happy. At all. Max heard vague words shouted his way, and they weren't exactly complimentary. The referee actually had to remind the formerly cocky teen that they were on television and that there were children in the stadium.

Suddenly, the match looked very, very winnable.

Ryan sent out a woobat: another Unovan Pokémon Max had seen before. It had popped up in his Gym Battle against Tate and Liza, losing to baltoy thanks to Ancientpower. It wasn't the best match-up perhaps, but Max trusted his grovyle to get the job done.

That trust received a boost when Max saw a Confusion connect, yet grovyle seemed to have no issues interrupting it with a Bullet Seed that hit woobat right on the nose, breaking its concentration. "Move closer."

Grovyle started running, scooting right to avoid two blue slashes – Air Cutter – and shooting a short burst of Bullet Seed slightly above the woobat. The ploy worked, as woobat reacted by dropping down, allowing grovyle to lunge in with Leaf Blades lit.

The hit was glancing, but it was a hit, and grovyle blindly dodged out of the way of an Air Cutter sent at its back with a forward roll, picking up debris as he did, before throwing the rock in woobat's direction. It barely missed.

Ryan yelled something _just_ unintelligible enough, and woobat unleashed a psionic pulse into the air before flying off, gathering speed as it darted around the arena.

Grovyle remained calm, tracking the woobat carefully, following its movement for a spell before suddenly launching a Bullet Seed when the Psychic-type was closest to him. One or two seeds hit before woobat could get out of the way, and it flew up, gaining a blue outline.

Then, the woobat, leaving an afterimage in its wake, changed direction, heading straight for grovyle, who had maybe a second's worth of warning before the attack connected. Woobat slammed into grovyle several times, mainly aiming for the torso, but it overstayed its welcome.

X-Scissor flared on the Grass-type's arms, and bringing his left arm up made the Bug-type move connect with woobat mid-swoop, instantly interrupting the attack and sending the woobat tumbling through the air, crashing into the ground away from grovyle as heavy wind started up.

Wait a second. Heavy wind, Psychic-type. "Grovyle, get ready to dodge," Max ordered, breaking off a second Quick Attack – grovyle having sent the woobat flying more with the first one already. "Future Sight incoming!" A glimmer at the far end. "Right!"

Grovyle dodged the diagonally moving globe, but some of the debris it picked up in its wake hit him. It wasn't too annoying, and Pokémon and Trainer turned their eyes back to the opponent.

An opponent who was having trouble getting off the ground.

The woobat tried to fly up, but its left wing didn't want to participate fully, its flaps lagging behind the right one. It managed to go airborne, about two feet off the ground, using Psychic energy to lift itself, but the Air Cutter that it sent out only delivered one slash, and prompted it to drop to the ground again.

Grovyle weaved around the blue energy, and he had just enough time to adjust his plans, placing his foot under the woobat and kicking it up before slamming another X-Scissor blade into it, following it up with a Bullet Seed for good measure.

"Woobat is unable to battle."

A part of Max felt sorry for the woobat: grovyle had probably broken one of the wing bones when he'd lashed out. Another part felt it served Ryan right.

Then he realised he was actually in the lead, two Pokémon to one. Grovyle and vulpix against a hitmonlee. The Fighting-type let loose a few warm-up kicks on the flat field before bowing to grovyle.

The referee brought down his flags once more, and both Pokémon closed the distance as soon as he did. The hitmonlee lashed out with a Blaze Kick as an opener, jabbing his foot at grovyle. The Grass-type rolled to the side, using his smaller profile to dodge the kick.

Hitmonlee walked up, taking a quick few steps before launching a head-high roundhouse kick with its left foot. It whizzed through the air over grovyle's head as Max's starter ducked barely in time, but the moment hitmonlee's left foot landed, his right lashed out, slamming into grovyle's side.

Grovyle took a small tumble, but got up in time to see the hitmonlee charge in, his left shoulder first. "Left, Leaf Blade."

Ryan's Pokémon tried to ram grovyle, but Max's starter took a few steps, knelt, and lit a Leaf Blade that he didn't even need to move to hit. It raked across hitmonlee's right shin, but the Kicking Pokémon retaliated with a quick kick back, slamming a foot into grovyle's.

"Go in. Focus the legs," Max ordered, and Leaf Blade met kick after kick as the Pokémon started trading blows.

The gaps in grovyle's defences that had nearly caused him to lose against a gabite were still there, if a little less obvious, but hitmonlee spotted them, snaking a foot through grovyle's guard to land a solid hit in his stomach, but the Grass-type had grabbed the offending left leg, draining energy with one hand before bringing down a Leaf Blade with the other arm.

He paid for it as hitmonlee lit up a Blaze kick on his left leg, scorching grovyle's hand and forcing him back, right into a low sweep that knocked the Grass-type off his feet. The prone Pokémon wasn't quite fast enough at rolling away, and the front of hitmonlee's foot raked across grovyle's side.

Grovyle got to his feet faster than Max expected, but the green glow explained that. "Go in."

Hitmonlee didn't try to block the slashes grovyle was unleashing on him, choosing instead to dodge; a feat not made any easier by his larger size and grovyle's nimbleness, but he traversed the first barrage with only a glancing hit on his shoulder.

Then, grovyle switched from large, hewing strikes to quick cuts; from attacking the torso to the legs, and that was more successful. A Leaf Blade sliced into hitmonlee's leg before the Fighting-type realised grovyle's change in strategy, and the higher rate of attack made dodging infeasible, as two more quick slashes proved.

So instead, the hitmonlee went for a counter, jumping up even as he took another slash to the lower right leg. His foot glowed, and it was aimed straight for grovyle. "Dodge!"

The attack was never meant to hit grovyle.

The Earthquake shook the ground, sending grovyle sprawling to the floor, and hitmonlee took advantage, delivering a fiery kick as if he were playing football into grovyle's midriff, who flew back several feet, skidding into the debris of the last remaining rock – one that the Future Sight had destroyed – and not getting up, Overgrow fading.

"Amazing work grovyle," Max said, returning his starter and taking a moment to calm his thoughts. Now was not the time to succumb to nerves. "Let's finish this. Vulpix!"

"The winner of this round wins the match. Begin!"

"Confuse Ray."

Hitmonlee immediately sprang into action, closing the distance in a straight line. Unfortunately for him, that meant the Confuse Ray was nearly unavoidable, and the purple energy hit when he was a few strides away from Max's Pokémon.

Still, hitmonlee continued, lashing out with a low sweep at vulpix, who took the kick, flying off to the side and landing on her feet.

And then the confusion started working. Hitmonlee lashed out at an imaginary foe to his left, ignoring the vulpix in front of him. "Flamethrower!"

A reddish light overtook the Fighting-type just before Flamethrower scorched it, and when the attack had passed, hitmonlee was still standing, smoke wafting off its body. The confusion had cleared, and it wasted no time in going in for a High Jump Kick.

But its earlier kick had been too successful in creating distance. Vulpix had enough time to recuperate, jumping off to the side to avoid the hitmonlee trying to crash into it, and instead, the ground was hitmonlee's target. He cried out in obvious pain as his more fragile leg met the arena floor.

And then he keeled over, Max's order of Ember dying on his lips, though vulpix sent a short burst anyway.

"Hitmonlee is unable to battle," the referee stated as cheers started filtering through the shields. "Mr. Maple and vulpix are the winner!"

The explosion of sound as the shields dropped nearly deafened Max.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _Dear Lord Cavendish,_

 _I have completed my inquiry into the matter we spoke of on the night of September 1_ _st_ _. It is probably more convenient if I were to share them with you in person, just to explain everything fully. I am currently at this year's Ever Grande Conference, and I am aware you are out of the country on business, but perhaps we can find time to meet up after both of us have some free time again?_

 _Yours faithfully,_

 _Gym Leader David Atalanta_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Continuing the Double Battle immunity shenanigans from last chapter, this time used against a protagonist. And a Full Battle, which is the sole reason this chapter is so much longer than the others.


	25. Chapter 25: Dignity

********Disclaimer:******** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Dignity**

Professor Birch brought his hands together one last time before stopping, the applause Max deserved tapering off as the victorious pre-teen walked off the field into the stadium catacombs. The announcer's voice echoed once more, announcing the next match, but Birch instead looked at his companions: Max's parents and sister, his own brother and sister-in-law, and one of Danny and Max's classmates – Keith, Birch realised – with his mother. That boy had been especially loud during the battles.

"Congratulations Norman and Caroline," Birch said, finally able to convey his words without having to shout. "Your son just became the youngest to win five times in a Hoenn League Tournament since our current Grand Champion." Keith's utterance, and his mother's remonstration at her son's words, Birch ignored. "I don't quite think any of us were expecting this."

"His opponent helped, but Max won that fair and square," Norman said. His tone was somewhat neutral, but the face was anything but. "And yes, Gregory, you don't need to remind me again. You've gloated plenty."

"Huh? His opponent helped?" Keith echoed, confused. "What's that mean?"

"Ryan was arrogant," May spoke up. "He underestimated Max and got angry when Max wasn't a pushover like he was expecting. If he'd been smarter, he would have won." The fourteen year old shrugged, her hands making a 'what can you do' gesture. "Just because someone is young doesn't mean they're a bad trainer. Max and Danny were even on TV, for manaphy's sake."

Birch remembered that day. Idly turning on the TV while making a late dinner and seeing your nephew seated in Wattson's Gym, answering a question about an escaped crime boss was quite the shock.

"May is correct," Norman agreed, interrupting Birch's quick reverie. "Arrogance has no place in battle. If you're so confident, you should be able to back your words up with actions." The Gym Leader turned to the thirteen year old. "If you came into my Gym all arrogant, you would face harder Pokémon than just being respectful and polite would have you face."

"Right," Keith said, putting one hand in front of his torso. "Don't piss off Gym Leaders," he added, miming writing on a note, ignoring the half-hearted reprimand his mother gave him. "Do we know Max's opponent yet?"

"Match after this one," said Gregory as he got up, stretching once for good measure. "I'm going for snacks and drinks. Who wants some?" Nearly everyone wanted something, and the elder Birch brother turned to the younger one. "Care to give me a hand, Maxim?"

Birch acquiesced and they made their way to one of the machines in the stadium's interior, which was thankfully empty of anyone else. "What is it."

To his brother's credit, he didn't try to fob an explanation on why he had asked Birch, and not Keith or Caroline, who had seats next to the steps. "May reminded me of something. Why exactly were Danny and Max with Wattson again?"

"The official story was that they saw Wattson hurrying and they decided to help him go to New Mauville. Danny did catch his magnemite there," Birch explained calmly as he inserted coin after coin, placing the cans that fell down the machine on the ground.

"And do you believe that?" his brother replied as he gathered his stack of snacks.

"Your point, Gregory? Not everything needs to be as contrived as the plots of the plays you work with."

Both of them had finished their tasks, but the food and drinks lay forgotten. "The official story smells worse than a hostile gloom. I know my son: he's nothing if not cautious, and for him to just jump aboard with Wattson just doesn't fit his thinking."

That assessment, Birch could agree with, but he felt obligated to play the devil's advocate. "It has come to mind that adolescents change rapidly, I assume."

"Of course. Groudon knows I see that every day this month." The smile on his brother's face was most definitely fond. "But no, Maxim. At heart, he is still the same cautious boy you had to prod into taking care of that tame dragonair; the same caring boy who hovered around me every day when I broke my ankle this time last year. I know this, straight from the ponyta's mouth." Gregory tilted his head. "On more than one occasion, I should add."

"Yes," Birch agreed. "Evidence does bear that out." A wave of sound from outside indicated that the match had started. "So you think he was what? Persuaded by Wattson?"

His brother shook his head, even as he picked up the snacks, cradling all the packets of crisps and chocolate in his arms. "Not Wattson. Danny had never met him, and while he used to be a bit shy around VIPs, it didn't make him a pushover for them. If anyone did the persuading, it was Max." Gregory let out a deep, world-weary sigh, and Birch didn't feel like it was exaggerated. His sense for that was excellent, and it wasn't going off. "You know that thing Dad used to ask us? About jumping off bridges?" He paused just long enough for the memory to make itself known. "For Max, Danny would. There'd be a discussion, but there can be no doubt as to the outcome."

"That goes both ways, I am certain," Birch soothed as he balanced cans in his arms.

"I know, but it is a sobering feeling to know that your only son's loyalty is no longer purely yours."

Translation: Gregory was feeling melancholy about the bonds of friendship Danny and Max shared. "You could have just said so."

"Ah, but where is the fun in that, oh brother."

Sometimes, his brother managed to get under his skin, despite the forty-odd years of history that should have inoculated him. This was one of those times.

Birch wouldn't have it any other way.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Ash found Max on a hill overlooking the town, far after sundown the day following the well-deserved victory in the round of 64. The younger boy hadn't been too hard to find: swellow had located him in an instant, but without charizard on his team, Ash had to go around the long way, which involved a path around the steep cliff. It took a while, and other interruptions hadn't helped. He wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to signing autographs for Trainers. "Hey Max."

"Took you long enough," Max shot back. The pre-teen was lying on the ground, something that Ash couldn't make out under his head. A small fire, barely embers, glowed nearby, Max's vulpix curled up next to it. "What's up? Danny send you?"

"Good guess," Ash said as he sat down next to Max, pikachu jumping off to go play with the bagon lying on the hill.

"Not exactly hard." Max pushed himself into a seated position. "I missed two of his calls. And one of yours."

"Why didn't you answer?"

"Because the Pokénav was muted," Max told Ash matter-of-factly. "What's the point in going off alone for peace and quiet and then answering calls?"

"Touché." Silence fell between them; the only sounds those of nature and the occasional playful snap by bagon. Max seemed perfectly comfortable with it, but the silence stretched long enough to make Ash uncomfortable. "What were you thinking about?"

"Before swellow flew up?" Max answered, and Ash nodded. "Just something Danny said about how eventful everything was."

"Eventful?" Ash replied, puzzled. From what he'd heard, Max and Danny had had a fairly calm journey with the occasional thing happening. "But..."

"Yup," Max interrupted Ash. "He thinks what we did was eventful. And sure, stuff happened, but it didn't involve angry Legendaries, or the destruction of a town, or Team Rocket, or… Eh, you get the picture. It was a little boring, to be honest. Didn't even see one Legendary."

Max's words echoed Ash's own feelings on his trek through Sinnoh. Sure, there was the incident with dialga and palkia, and he'd still met about half of the region's Legendaries at some point or another, but the rest was just simple travel the way others described their journey. "Maybe you'll get lucky in Kalos."

"No thanks," Max replied instantly. "Three of them ended up destroying large parts of Kalos 3000 years ago. One of them they call the Legendary of Death. Don't mind me if I run the other way."

Ash snorted at Max's deadpan delivery. Figures Max would have read up on the region he was going to visit. "Can't argue with that." Across town, over the main stadium, thunderclouds gathered, closely followed by a bolt of lightning streaking down. Ash recalled Danny telling him that his last opponent had used that combination in their battle, and he figured she'd done it again. "You nervous for tomorrow?"

"Not really. Just hoping I don't get 6-0'd."

"You won't." Ash was confident of that. They'd seen the match, and while Max's next opponent was just a cut above him – and not arrogant like Ryan – she was not _that_ good. "I'd have trouble 6-0'ing you by now."

"If you would switch out, you could, or if you started off with having charizard flambé all my Pokémon."

"But I wouldn't want to," Ash replied, and he saw Max look at him weirdly, or at least he thought Max did that. It was hard to see between the darkness and the reflection of the fire on Max's glasses. "Going out to beat someone like that is just bad. All it does is strip them of their dignity, and make you look petty."

Max looked down, and Ash recognised the pose as one of the boy's thinking poses. "Pikachu?" Max called, prompting Ash's starter to run over, bagon behind him. "Are you sure this is Ash? He's saying smart things again. It's not right."

Pikachu sniffed a few times, very exaggeratedly. "Pi-ka," he spoke solemnly. "Pi-ka-chu."

"Thanks Pikachu." Max looked up again. "Sorry, had to check. You know Team Rocket likes to run cons."

"Do I ever."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Clefairy against gligar was the first battle in Max's round of 32 match. His opponent was another sixteen-year-old, but from some "hamlet" in Kanto, and with a lot less arrogance. They had talked before the match, mainly about their round of 64 matches and a bit about their tournament so far. Normal stuff, instead of arrogant boasting.

Max liked this more.

Isabella's gligar shot into action at the referee's signal, opting to close the distance. "Metronome."

The infamous randomly generated attacks had been working well for Max so far, and his luck held even now. Clefairy summoned a wave of purple, poisonous, sludge, and launched it at the gliding gligar, who was just too late to avoid the attack. It crashed onto the ground, and Max was fairly certain that he saw some of the goo make its way into gligar's mouth.

The painful-sounding cough and retch confirmed that, just before clefairy hit it with a Disarming Voice.

Then gligar pulled itself together and came back in, its pincers starting to glow with a bright light blue. The X-Scissor clipped clefairy on the foot as she jumped out of the way, sending her tumbling over gligar, who couldn't turn around in time to hit clefairy in mid-air. It landed, swivelling on its left foot and shooting several Poison Stings that annoyed clefairy as she got up, and interrupted her just long enough that she couldn't use another Metronome before gligar was on her. Instead, she had to Doubleslap to fend off white glowing claws – Slash probably.

Clefairy couldn't last in hand to hand, and Max ordered her to get out, but when she tried to jump, gligar slipped a last Slash in, unbalancing her. She rolled on the arena floor after an uncontrolled path through the air, but got up without a problem, unleashing a quick Disarming Voice at the gligar who tried to catch her off-guard, and he, too, took a dive onto the floor. "Metronome."

Clefairy whirled around, creating Ice Shards that gligar desperately tried to avoid, to moderate success. The few that hit weren't enough to deter the Ground-Flying hybrid, though, and events of not half a minute before repeated themselves. Slash met Doubleslap, although clefairy was able to keep up better this time as the earlier Sludge Wave and continued wear started to work on gligar.

Still, gligar's endurance was greater than Max was hoping, as it showed no signs of letting up despite the poison running through its veins, and the continued barrage proved to be too much for clefairy, unused to defending like this. A claw slipped through her guard, punching her in the torso and sending her into a nearby rock.

The gligar concentrated, and a silvery-steel glow appeared on its claws. It jumped at clefairy, but fell short as the Fairy-type obeyed Max's order, creating a patch of dense Gravity, eyes black as night. The attack allowed her to make a get-away, but gligar had kept the Metal Claw active, and it resumed its chase the moment it could. "Magical Leaf."

Green-white crescents flew at gligar, who took a fair number of them, even as it used one of its claws to deflect others. The other claw hit clefairy, flinging her into a nearby rock, prompting Max to wince. That hadn't been the best positioning. Once that was done, gligar wobbled, and fell.

"Clefairy and gligar are both knocked out."

Max wasn't sure if he should be relieved or disappointed at the result: it really could've gone either way. The early poison had been immensely lucky. He sent out his baltoy, keeping an eye on his opponent's pokéball.

Out came a swellow. Max could live with that, though the Flying-type's speed meant he couldn't try to capitalise off of Cosmic Power. Baltoy would just be interrupted or be a sitting ducklett. Neither was an option: he needed to take swellow out of its rhythm of attacking and flying off.

Max wasn't surprised at all when he saw swellow open with a Quick Attack, flying low. "Rock Tomb twice."

The first slab of rock that baltoy summoned was one swellow easily dodged: Max's Pokémon had been a bit too early in lowering its foot to the ground. The second rock, however, baltoy summoned with nearly perfect timing, throwing it up a few feet ahead of swellow, who couldn't dodge it, instead ramming it beak-first. The slab broke, and debris plus forty-odd pounds of bird slammed into baltoy, sending both of them to the ground.

"Confusion pulse."

A flash of blue-violet light, and psionic energy threw everything around baltoy back, including swellow, while Max's small Pokémon righted itself with ease. It gathered some of the debris scattered around it, but it didn't launch the remnants as the swellow had flown back up into the air. Instead, baltoy held the pebbles and chippings in a loose circle around itself, waiting for whatever attack would come down next.

Swellow circled overhead, waiting for just the right moment. When it apparently found that, it straightened up, flapping its wings with great force, creating several spinning white-ish blades that flew down at baltoy.

It wasn't a very powerful attack. Two of the Air Slash projectiles were blocked outright by baltoy throwing its protective ring of stones into them, while three others missed with minimal adjustment, none of them doing too much to the ground.

Then swellow suddenly appeared in a low dive, hitting baltoy with a picture-perfect Aerial Ace, and Max understood his opponent's strategy. The Air Slash had been a diversion so that swellow could get in closer. "Light Screen dome above you."

A transparent barrier formed over baltoy's head, covering a circle maybe twenty-five feet across at its widest, around 4 feet in the air,. It was enough; baltoy didn't need to move too much.

Swellow tested the barrier with an Air Slash, and found that the sole projectile barely made it through. The bird sped up, diving into another Quick Attack, combining with a Double Team that created four other criss-crossing swellow. "Rock Tomb," Max said, trusting baltoy to reach out with its Psychic powers to identify the real one in time.

Baltoy identified the real one, but whiffed the Rock Tomb slightly, throwing it up off-centre and late. It hit the swellow's tail, adjusting its flight downward. Its altitude meant it couldn't flap its wings to gain height, leading it to crash into baltoy's foot before hitting the dirt itself. Baltoy, on the other hand, was able to remain afloat through heavy use of a pulse of Psychic energy to stabilise itself. Max's Pokémon lashed out with a rock before swellow could regain height, but an Ancientpower sent after its opponent was a near-miss.

Swellow flew up, beyond easy reach of baltoy, and gathered speed. Through the Light Screen barrier that distorted the light slightly, Max saw a blue aura flare around the swellow. "Rock Tomb, send it off-course," Max said. Letting Brave Bird hit baltoy would be a bad thing, but swellow was too fast to easily dodge.

The plan didn't work out. Baltoy was slightly too early, and swellow crashed right through the rock before hitting Max's Pokémon head-on. Even worse, baltoy couldn't get up, and although swellow was clearly at the end of its tether, baltoy was out.

The swellow landed on one of the rocks, heaving with feathers dusty and out of place. If Max could get a quick knock-out, he'd be fine. "Natu, it's your turn," Max said, sending the natu out way further than he would normally do. "Hidden Power."

Natu correctly predicted the path swellow would take in flying away, and the quick bird fell. Not even a minute after going one Pokémon down, it was a tie again.

Max awaited Isabella's third Pokémon, and he didn't have to wait long. Out came a bronzong, and after a similarly short deliberation on his end, Max signalled that he wanted to make a substitution.

The Psychic mirror would just lead to natu being slowly crushed, and even if Ominous Wind was a decent attack to use against bronzong, it wouldn't be enough, probably. The rocks lying around, providing ample debris to pelt natu with, were also a factor. Max needed more powerful attacks to deal with a bronzong, and for that, he had just the Pokémon. "Vulpix, you're up."

The roles were the reverse from the match between baltoy and swellow. Bronzong stayed in place, summoning a Safeguard that would protect it from being burnt, while vulpix went on the immediate offensive. Her Flamethrower pierced the Light Screen dome effortlessly, and the slow bell-like Pokémon suffered the attack for a moment before a psionic pulse violently disrupted the tail end of the attack, also throwing off a wave of Embers.

"Hex it," Max ordered, and vulpix gladly obeyed, summoning the purple-red eye above herself with a fierce bark, channelling the attack for a moment. Purple spirals flew forth at bronzong, who took the attack as it started to spin, white energy appearing at the end of its arms in a Gyro Ball. The Steel-type attack served as a shield for the Hex as it spun in.

Vulpix easily avoided the Gyro Ball, but now bronzong was also inside the Light Screen barrier, and though the shield was weakening, it wasn't gone yet. Either vulpix was at the mercy of the bronzong in a small area, or she got out, but had to wait with her attacks for a while, as Light Screens didn't distinguish between who set it up, merely what direction the attack came from.

"Move away," Max said, pointing down the field to vulpix's right. "Wait the Light Screen out."

Vulpix wasn't clefairy, but she could do keep-away, avoiding a multi-coloured Extrasensory beam as she sped out of the dome. She hid behind a rock, only to abandon it not long before a second Extrasensory smashed it to pieces, and the follow-up wave of debris – courtesy of a powerful pulse much like baltoy had done earlier – was unavoidable, but also fairly weak at that distance. Better she be hit with that than with an actual attack: the bronzong looked powerful, Max thought as a wave of stones flew in, forcing vulpix to duck behind one of the rocks that remained standing.

Oddly, bronzong hadn't yet tried to grab vulpix itself with Confusion, and Max wasn't certain why.

The Light Screen was so far gone that it was barely visible, and Max decided it was time to go back on the offensive. "Move closer, then Flamethrower."

Moving closer was easier said than done. Vulpix had to drop and roll to avoid a burst of Extrasensory, use Ember to diminish a wave of light debris, and a big rock, close to the size of one of baltoy's Rock Tombs, pelted her as bronzong shattered it overhead, psionically exploding it and creating a rock shower.

At least the Flamethrower was a full-on hit, but vulpix paid for it as she stood still just long enough. Bronzong fought through the attack and managed to finally grab hold of the brown-red Pokémon, who immediately sank into Ghost-type energies, to no avail.

Bronzong flung vulpix through the air from one end of where the Light Screen had been to the other, releasing her as soon as he had flung her and sending an Extrasensory at where vulpix was going to land, the front of the beam connecting with perfect timing. Two rocks flew in from the side, seeking to crush vulpix between them.

The Fox Pokémon dodged those, jumping up high and launching an immediate Flamethrower to interrupt the next Confusion that was coming. The Fire-type attack hit, but so did the Confusion, and once again, vulpix was caught in a web she could not escape out of.

Total control. Max had read an article by Lucian, shortly after natu had joined his team. In it, the Sinnoh Elite Four member had extolled the virtues of controlling the battlefield, and he was seeing the fruits of that approach right now. Vulpix wasn't powerful or slippery enough to break the hold, and the battle was over. Bronzong held vulpix's legs in place as it levitated another rock to slam into her.

Vulpix got off one last burst of Flamethrower, but she stopped as the slab hit her over the head. The short tongue of flame did lick at bronzong, but the Steel-Psychic-type didn't appear to care, just as it hadn't outwardly cared about the earlier Fire-type attacks. Vulpix fell, and Max was down one Pokémon at the break.

Max took a seat on the stairs to the arena, feeling rumbling underneath as the machinery started to work at switching the field from Rock to Grass. He had nobody to talk to this time: their spots had been up high and the stadium was filled to capacity, leaving no chance for any of his friends or family to sneak down to grab a seat closer to him.

He held no illusions: it was going to be tough. Isabella's Pokémon were well-trained and precise, and that bronzong was just… It resisted like half the type chart, floated so it was effectively immune to one of Steel's few weaknesses, and it apparently was able to withstand fire as well. If manectric had been on his team, he would've sent her in, but Isabella's line-up in previous rounds had included a rhydon, an ivysaur, a blitzle, and the gligar he'd already seen. Too many Pokémon just countered manectric, and so he'd left her out, helped by the fact that she wasn't fully recovered yet. She'd pushed harder than Max had thought, and Nurse Joy hadn't been too happy with him.

But no matter how tough it was, he was going to do his best. He'd settle for nothing less.

Natu took the field to oppose the bronzong now that vulpix had tired it out a bit and, more importantly, now that the field had switched. The foot-high grass completely hid natu from sight, at least for now. Once a few attacks had cut through, parts of it would be flattened or destroyed, but until that time, Max's Pokémon could hide from Isabella, and maybe bronzong as well. There was a light breeze as well, which blew over the softly rustling green-and-yellow grass.

Max directed his natu to start moving before launching an Ominous Wind, and natu hopped off, careful to stay concealed. He revealed himself to have moved right, blasting bronzong with an Ominous Wind while the Bronze Bell Pokémon… Did something.

Bronzong – the soft glow of Safeguard long extinguished – was glowing again; a vague red, close to pink, this time. As Max watched, the aura blossomed and then exploded, covering the entire arena, stopping just short of Max and Isabella thanks to the shields.

He had heard no cries of pain, so Max assumed it was some status-like move. It wasn't Trick Room; he would've noticed that. Which move it actually was, he didn't know. "Keep moving, attack at will."

Bronzong started slowly moving around the arena, seemingly at random, and its movement allowed it to avoid a Hidden Power from a blind spot that left a momentary trail of frosted tips on the grass, probably giving it some much-needed moisture, though a follow-up burst of Ominous Wind from nearly the same spot wasn't dodged as natu took better aim.

Then bronzong summoned a rock from underground, quickly lifting it up and shattering the Rock Tomb slab in much the same way as it had done to vulpix earlier. "Deflect with Confusion."

No deflection happened, and natu chirped loudly a few times as pebbles and stones crashed into him.

Somehow, bronzong had disabled natu's Psychic powers without using Disable. That must have been the effect of the red attack earlier. Okay, Max could work with that. "Need to keep moving. Stick to Ominous Wind, but lay low for now."

Bronzong tried to flush natu out of the grass, continuing to summon rocks before shattering them at ever-increasing heights to widen the spread of the debris, but if natu was hit, he wasn't making a peep. The scattershot strategy continued for around a minute before Max's Pokémon revealed his position.

The Ominous Wind hit home, as did the quick and cheeky Hidden Power follow-up, enabled by natu hitting from bronzong's blind spot.

Isabella changed strategy, abandoning the rain of debris in favour of summoning slabs of rock and sending them in every direction. It had the effect of temporarily flattening some of the grass with each rock, but natu was still too quick to be hit by one.

Then bronzong barely missed natu, revealing a wing, and it immediately pounced, casting a psionic net that caught natu. "Ominous Wind!" Max ordered.

The Ghost-type attack took shape, natu manipulating the attack even as he chirped in distress. Bronzong was holding him tightly, and a rock was moving into position from behind fast. "Release it now."

Both attacks collided with their respective opponents, and while bronzong stayed afloat – barely, Max noticed – natu didn't reappear from the grass.

"Natu is unable to battle," were words Max didn't want to hear, but he did. He thanked natu for his hard work and eyed the bronzong. It had to be near fainting by now.

"Grovyle, I need you."

Bronzong went for a grab on the grovyle as soon as it was allowed to, but the Grass-type dove into the grass to avoid that, coming up from a roll several feet away, zigging and zagging his way to his opponent. "X-Scissor."

Grovyle did jump into a psionic field, but the blue glow on his arms cut right through the hold, even if it was slower than grovyle would normally move. The X-Scissor landed, and bronzong lost its levitation, falling to the ground with an almighty pair of clangs: one as its bottom hit the ground, one as its head hit one of the rocks it had summoned.

Isabella's next Pokémon was one of her wormadam, floating above the grass, and its beige colour told Max it was the Sandy Cloak version, meaning a Ground subtype to go along with its – her, Max remembered, as male burmy evolved into mothim – Bug physiology. It wasn't as bad as her other wormadam would have been: the Trash Cloak variation was terrible for grovyle, but Max could've switched bagon in against that.

The two Pokémon started off with ranged projectiles. The singular Rock Blast overpowered the multitude of Bullet Seeds at first, but the attack fell apart before it could make its way to where grovyle had been.

"Leaf Blade." Grovyle moved into some of the uncut grass, his form vanishing from sight as he went into a lope. It was possible to follow him, unlike natu, as his body caused grass to shift where he walked, and Isabella ordered wormadam to launch a Psybeam. "Feint right."

Grovyle obliged, drawing two off-target Psybeams before jumping out of the grass to deliver an overhead slash on wormadam.

And the attack bounced off a green shield, and a Rock Blast followed it up, hitting grovyle in the stomach, though he got up undeterred, vanishing into the grass once more, moving slightly slower to not give away his position as badly.

Protect was something Max could deal with. How couldn't he; it was only Danny's favourite move. All he had to do was be patient. "Circle around, then Mega Drain."

The more deliberate movement gave Isabella and wormadam less clues to grovyle's whereabouts, and the Psybeams went wide; the second one going the complete opposite way of where grovyle jumped up a moment after wormadam finished the attack. He latched onto wormadam from behind, forcing her to the ground and draining energy for a moment. Then, he leapt out, avoiding the Rock Blast that went high into the sky, and launching a burst of Bullet Seed that hit the wormadam as she ascended.

"Leaf Blade, draw out the Protect."

The plan nearly worked perfectly. Grovyle feigned an attack, but changed direction at the last second, instead diving into the grass underneath wormadam, slicing some of it away. The Protect faded, and grovyle tried to make a grab for wormadam, intent on draining more energy. He did, but wormadam was able to latch onto his shoulder, biting into it.

At this distance, Max couldn't see if there was anything else to the attack, but he assumed there wasn't. Grovyle certainly didn't appear poisoned as he flung wormadam off with a heave before speeding after her in a Quick Attack that intercepted her, sending the Bug-type flying even further back, all the way to Max's half of the arena. "Careful now. Need to draw out the Protect again."

Grovyle obliged, slinking back into the grass. Max was able to track him, but Isabella probably wasn't: the Pokémon were maybe twenty feet away from Max. Wormadam wasn't able to track him either, it seemed, as she fired Rock Blasts at places Max knew grovyle wasn't at. Then she fell silent, just floating in mid-air.

Max recognised a trap when he saw one. Now to spring it, and he knew just how. "Feign Leaf Blades until I say go."

As Max expected, wormadam didn't even flinch at the first Leaf Blade that slashed the grass underneath her. The second Leaf Blade that sliced the air next to her, however, drew a response, and she threw up Protect to avoid being hit.

Too bad Max's Pokémon hadn't put much into that slice either. "Go!"

Grovyle jumped up from the grass to wormadam's left, arms aglow in the blue light of X-Scissor, the blades parting the Psybeam that was meant to stop him. His left arm went up, slamming down on wormadam a moment later, knocking her to the ground, and the right arm intercepted her en-route with a precise jab that cut across the Bug's body.

Max's order of Mega Drain wasn't even needed. Sadly. Grovyle could've used the extra energy. It wasn't as if he looked that tired, but more energy never hurt.

Isabella's fifth Pokémon was a gallade. The Blade Pokémon cut some of the grass upon coming out, and then he bowed deeply; a sign of respect for his opponent.

Max and grovyle returned the bow, and then the battle began.

Gallade vanished from sight, Teleporting in above grovyle, elbow blades glowing blue – Psycho Cut – in an attempt to cheap shot the Grass-type. Grovyle nimbly dodged out of the way, ducking under a head-height horizontal slash as gallade spun on his feet, creating a small arms-reach area in which no grass came up to his own arms. A quick arm downward blocked grovyle's attempt to X-Scissor the gallade's legs, and the hand to hand combat began.

Grovyle brought an arm up, and light blue met blue-violet. He pushed in, and out his right arm went when gallade pushed back, making room for a left-handed slash across the midriff as grovyle carried momentum into it.

Gallade parried, a quick downward motion before an upward one, knocking grovyle's arm away, scoring a glancing blow with his own left before closing his guard, blocking an X-Scissor, but taking seeds to the face.

The Bullet Seed made the guard falter. Grovyle dropped low, swiping, using the hasty parry as a springboard to deliver a cut with the leaf on his head.

Gallade's retaliation pushed grovyle back in mid-air, his landing awkward despite blocking the jab. Isabella's Pokémon sprang forward, cutting grass with his right arm, the left held across his body defensively until he reached grovyle. Then, the left attacked, and the right moved back.

Grovyle countered the blow wrongly, overextending into the block and paying for it with a quick slash across his body. Green light flared, once on his body, once on his arms, and grovyle pushed gallade back, breaking the parry and reaching through to the gallade's hips. The Blade Pokémon hissed and retreated with a jump. Grovyle advanced on him.

Crimson and light-blue replaced blue-violet, and grass fell as green met crimson, the red blade glowing as the Pokémon separated. A diagonal slash met grovyle's deflection. The Fury Cutter was extinguished, unable to block both Leaf Blades, but as they slashed into gallade, so did X-Scissor into grovyle.

A cry of pain rent the air, green aura faltering, but not falling. Furious, uncontrolled, slashes followed, grovyle cutting grass, not gallade. He was back where they first fought, a Teleport having brought him there. "Calm down," Max said.

Grovyle obeyed, his charge forward fast, but not reckless. Leaf Blade clashed with X-Scissor left, high, and Fury Cutter right, low. A blast of seeds, head reared back, missed, gallade twisting his way out of the locked blades. Grovyle lurched forward, unbalanced.

Gallade sent both blades into his opponent's back, and green was quenched.

"Grovyle is unable to battle."

Max returned his starter, and shook his head, looking up, seeing the rest of the arena as overgrown as before. He nearly forgot it was there. The duel had been entrancing, commanding his attention like few things ever had. His mouth was parched, and he grabbed the bottle of water next to him, draining the last mouthful. He grabbed a pokéball, his last. Only one Pokémon left, and Max held no illusions. This was probably his last in the tournament.

Time to make it a good one. "Bagon, I choose you!"

The first thing bagon did, as ever, was a Dragon Pulse. The second was to duck into the tall grass as gallade Teleported in, intent on delivering a Psycho Cut. "Keep hidden," Max said, inklings of a plan beginning to form.

Isabella had no Fire-type Pokémon at all, and her sole Water-type was a lombre that had been knocked out hard in the previous round. Maybe she had her lunatone or rhydon as her last Pokémon, but he'd cross that bridge if it came to that.

Gallade was chasing bagon, missing, but slowly cutting away the grass so that bagon had less of it to hide in. Isabella's Pokémon was also going about the task methodically, creating sections of grass separated by cut paths. Max listened for footsteps, and he heard soft cracks as gallade moved across the arena. The tips of the grass – the parts that suffered the most whenever the grass was cut – were dry.

He'd lose in a straight-up fight, so Max needed every advantage he could get. He had to try. "Bagon, Embers on the ground when you can, as hot as you can."

It probably wasn't the most amusing experience for the audience, Max realised with a grin as the battle continued. One Pokémon hiding, and the other playing lawnmower didn't make for the excitement of the other fights. They'd have to wait.

Soon, Max saw smoke starting to spiral up from two separate spots, and it wasn't long after that when a small flame appeared at one of those spots far behind gallade's and bagon's current location. "Just a bit more."

Gallade Teleported forward, slashing the grass around it immediately, and he missed bagon by inches because the dragon had been hunched over, launching embers that caught falling strands and gallade's feet. "Headbutt."

The jump surprised gallade, and bagon's head hit the gallade's torso without being blocked. A Psycho Cut ran across his back, but once again, the bagon dove into the grass for safety. He hadn't needed to, as gallade had noticed he was standing in a small fire, Teleporting away to a safer place. "More Embers."

Four, then five, then even six, sets of flame appeared as gallade searched for bagon, his methodical cutting of before now working against him as he had a large uncut rectangle to search and slice, but eventually, Isabella spotted the bagon, ordering a Teleport and delivering a quick jab that sent bagon flying back to one of the paths.

Bagon immediately set that on fire too before rolling out of the way of gallade as he lunged in from above. A quick, but weak, Dragon Pulse bought bagon enough time to get to his feet, and another one exploded on gallade's blade, creating wind that spread the flame.

"That's enough," Max said before telling bagon to just hide. The fire was spreading, and smoke was starting to reduce Max's sight of Isabella already: she appeared as if in a heat haze in July, not an afternoon in December. If the battle moved to Isabella's half, soon Max wouldn't even be able to see it.

But this was his strategy, and he would work with it or lose. Gallade was certainly being affected, as Max saw it carefully avoid some of the burning patches of grass, and Max also saw bagon hiding behind one of those. "Dragon Rage now."

The bushfire fed the attack, and gallade was engulfed in the dragon's flame, far too late at retaliating with a weak Disarming Voice. Bagon wasn't even near. "Dragon Pulse."

Gallade deflected the attack on a Psycho Cut, sending it up and reminding Max that he was still decently hale. A second Dragon Pulse was deflected back with an angry slash, but bagon avoided his own attack, going back into the fire to hide.

And gallade remained where he was, his eyes now closed, as if waiting for something.

Bagon sent a Dragon Rage, and that was the sign gallade had been waiting for. He Teleported in and immediately swept an arm down on bagon's right. The dragon had dodged to that side every time before and gallade had figured it out as he landed a purple-black attack on bagon with one arm. The second arm would have delivered a Fury Cutter, but bagon bit down on gallade's left arm, stopping that. "No!" Max yelled.

It left him completely open. The right blade hit bagon from below, dislodging the dragon and sending him flying upwards, unable to control his path. Gallade tracked it, adjusted his stance and position slightly, and simply hit bagon as gravity did its work, ignoring a hasty Dragon Pulse as well.

The two blades gallade hit with gave bagon enough speed to ram into the side of the arena with a loud thud, right underneath the referee. The man looked down, and raised the green flag. "Bagon is knocked out. Isabella is the winner."

He had tried, and he had lost. Max returned bagon, noticing gallade Teleporting out and a triad of blastoise moving in to extinguish the fire. Max hoped the next match didn't require this field as he walked down the stairs, passing through the shielding that kept the sound out.

He didn't acknowledge the applause as he moved past the blastoise fighting the fire, nor did he as he walked up the other set of stairs. Isabella hadn't heard him approach, but gallade had sensed him, and the Blade Pokémon sank into another short bow that alerted his trainer. Max returned it once more. "Congratulations," he said, his voice steady. "That was fun." And that sounded lame.

Isabella took his proffered hand and shook it. "It was a great battle," she agreed, returning the tired gallade by her side. "Very calculated. I wasn't expecting that out of someone your age." She smiled broadly. "Shows what I know. If we meet next year, I'll be the underdog for sure."

Max blushed slightly. "We'll see. A lot can happen in a year."

"Good point." They walked down the stairs, Isabella waving at the audience. "Hey," she said, giving Max a nudge. "Wave. You deserve the applause as well."

It certainly wasn't Max's imagination that the applause swelled when he gave a first hesitating wave, and it didn't go down until both of them were in the catacombs. They thanked the referee, with Max apologising for torching the field and the referee waving that off, and made to walk back to separate rooms. "Just a moment. Why did you bow?" Isabella asked. "I've only ever seen others with a Pokémon from that line do that, and you don't have one, right?"

Various ideas shot through Max's mind, quick as lightning, of how to respond. He went with the truth. Of sorts. "A friendly gardevoir taught me, and it just felt right to do."

"I see," Isabella said, and Max had the feeling she actually did. "Well, I… This is where I leave. See you around, Max Maple." She nodded to somewhere behind Max and left.

Max turned around, and there his parents were, Danny and May half-hidden behind them. Max walked up, head held high. He'd reached far, and it had been amazing. He had even managed to bow out with his dignity intact. "Hi."

"Hi to you too," his father replied drily. "Just so you know, I don't plan on allowing hiding spots in our battle."

"You take away all the fun, Dad."

"That's what parents are for. Now, let's go back up. Maybe we'll see something half as good."

 **~~§~~§~~**

It was the day before the last two matches, December 15th, and Max's little hide-away away from everyone else wasn't his alone any longer. Instead, everyone of their group was there, all seven of them, and most of the Pokémon were out as well, with a few exceptions. Keith had begged off sending onix out, and Jane hadn't wanted to send her shellder out. That still left seven teenagers and thirty-nine Pokémon – Alice only had five – on a crowded cliff.

There was a reason they had four picnic baskets filled to the brim with food and drink. Danny and Keith had been up since pretty much dawn to make some of that stuff, with Danny even calling in Ash's help for food ideas the night before. That had ended up with an hour-long call to Kanto as Danny met Brock for the first time, coming away with several ideas and, apparently, some of Max's favourites.

"My lords, ladies, and Pokémon," Danny spoke up pompously, channelling his father, "lunch has arrived."

"We hope it's tasty. The failures sure were!" Keith added, to chuckles.

It was tasty, and everyone seemed to agree, to the point of Max having to keep Alice's growlithe out of the basket he was sitting next to. Thankfully, Max was somewhat immune to sad puppy eyes after spending time with the Birch growlithe, manectric, and vulpix, and he was able to tell the canine 'no' before putting some extra Pokémon food in the bowl to keep Alice's Pokémon happy.

"Hey, everyone," Keith said as everyone was pretty much done with the lunch. Max certainly was: he felt full to bursting. "So we've all been out for about a year, unless your name is Birch or Maple, in which case it's nine months." He waited for Max and Danny to react, and they happily obliged. "And we've all met tons of Pokémon, but is there any Pokémon you wanted to meet, but you haven't?"

"The one askin' should be the one answerin' first," Linda replied as she lazily ran her hands through her swinub's fur. "Don'tcha think so too?"

"Seconded," Danny said quickly, and both Paul and Alice added their agreement. "So, Keith?"

"Any Legendary," Keith said without dropping a beat. "Just to see one. They're amazing forces of nature. I'd be amazing to see one of the Birds or Beasts, and I don't mean one of Wattson's mechs!" That got a round of laughter, as everyone had visited the jovial Gym Leader on their journey. "And because I went first, I'll pick who goes next. So, Linda, which Pokémon?"

"Well, Legendaries sound great," Linda started, giving Max a feeling he knew which one in particular. "And I like Ground-types," she added unnecessarily. Her baltoy, golett, swinub, and trapinch were all hanging around. "So groudon, but I understand there was some kinda trouble with him 'n kyogre a bit back, so maybe it's better I didn't see him. Dunno any other Pokémon, really." She shrugged. "Anyway, Alice?"

Alice and Paul both chimed in with Legendaries as well. Alice expressed a preference for articuno due to their grace, and Paul hoped to one day see a jirachi.

It was a good thing Max wasn't eating or drinking anything at the time, because it probably would have caused a mess.

"Right," Danny said, having been passed the turn. "I'm boring. I don't want to see a Legendary. I just want to see an espeon for once. It's the only eeveelution I haven't seen, and it's really annoying."

"Where did ya meet the others?" Paul wondered.

"Flareon, leafeon, sylveon on Trainers. Umbra has an umbreon for her signature Pokémon, Wattson has a jolteon, May has a vaporeon, and I'm missing one now… Max, help me out."

"Glaceon at the lab."

"Thank you. Just for that, you get to go last. Jane?"

Max resisted the urge to look at her. Jane was almost painfully shy, more comfortable with Pokémon than humans at times. Only Keith really managed to get her out of her shell. "I just want to see mew," she said, softly, but everyone heard her anyway, and none of them pressed her on it.

All eyes went to Max. "There isn't a Pokémon I want to see, but if I had a chance to meet one..." He took a deep breath. "Ralts."

He met Danny's eyes, his best friend asking several questions silently. Max hoped his slight nod was good enough an answer. "Yeah, I know," Max said in reply to several verbal questions. "I've met ralts. They're rare, but not that rare. It's just that..." He fell silent, biting his lip. "You know I travelled with Ash." Everyone nodded in response to that, having been told that at some point or another over the course of the last two weeks. "That was fun, and I saw enough Legendaries to last me a lifetime. But when we'd been going around Hoenn for eight months, I rescued a ralts. Pneumonia, and some poachers intent on taking him. I brought him to the Pokémon Center, and we made a promise that I would come back for him. But by the time we got to Izabe, a week after my birthday, ralts was gone. Poachers, his mother told us. I… I didn't like that."

All the others were silent, maybe a bit surprised by the story. Only Danny and Linda knew of it before. "That's why you had a Dawn Stone," Jane said. "Because of a male ralts."

"Ash gave it to him," Danny added. "For his birthday, just like he gave May a Water Stone for her vaporeon. Eventually, Max decided he wanted me to have it, and, well…" Danny shrugged. Froslass wasn't here, but if she had, Max knew Danny would have pointed at her.

Keith raised his hand. "Uh, question. Why didn't you catch another one? I mean, you could, right?"

"Max doesn't capture Pokémon. He sweet-talks them," Paul drawled, smirking. "Unlike us normal Trainers."

"Hey, I caught three of them. That's got to count for something, right?" Everyone laughed. "Maybe I'll catch more in Kalos. Who knows."

"Oh, you're going to Kalos too? Wicked!" Keith said, leaning in for a high five. "Where's everyone else going?"

"Kalos," Danny said instantly. "As if I'd leave Max alone. Someone needs to pop his ego from time to time."

"That's not what you said last week."

"So? Doesn't make it any less true."

Max had no response to that, nor did he really want to reply. "Where are you going, Linda?"

"Actually, all of us," Linda said, gesturing to include Paul and Alice," are goin' to Kanto, and I'm gonna be at Alice and Paul's home for Yule. Y'know, since Unova..." Nods greeted her trailed-off statement. "We'll be travellin' apart, but I'm sure we'll meet up a lot. Kanto didn't look that big, and there's only so many Gyms too." She looked at Max, Danny, Keith, and Jane. "Hope we can keep talkin' to each other, even from that distance."

Max smiled at her. "We'll figure something out."

 **~~§~~§~~**

The group that walked onto the flat arena was small: there were only sixteen of them. The organisers were calling everyone up in order of elimination, and so Max had to wait long after his friends had left, something that wasn't helped by the announcer reading out the names of everyone who had been eliminated in the Victory Tournament.

They passed the ones who'd gone out in rounds before them, and as the groups became smaller, the formation became more organised. The first two groups were nothing more than blobs, but the round of 64 group were standing in four lines of eight. Max saw Ryan standing in the back right, close to the round of 128 group; and the sour look on the Unovan's face was so sweet.

They made four lines of four, and while Max tried to hide in the second row, an arm pulled him forward. "No hiding for you today. Be proud," Nicholas said as he ushered Max to the centre-right spot in the front row, to his left. "And maybe you can see something now, _non?"_

Max ignored the dig at his height, though it drew a deep chuckle from the man standing to his left. "I could put you on my shoulders," he said, and Max didn't doubt him for a second. Just the man's arm was half as wide as Max's entire body, and he had to be at least seven feet tall.

They joined the round of applause for those who had gone out in the round of sixteen, and Max saw Isabella smile as she spotted him. She'd lost to Maria, barely, and Maria had gone out in the quarter-finals.

Eventually, after the three on the podium walked in one by one – the fourth placed man having slunk in with the ones who had gone out in the quarter-finals – and after the Kanto national anthem had played to honour the winner, Mr. Goodshow stepped up to a lectern. "Dear Trainers, we're here at the end of another Conference," the President of the Pokémon League spoke.

"There were great battles, big turnarounds, and a deserved winner. There were losses too, and great passion was felt in the hearts of everyone watching or participating. There can be only one who wins the tournament, but to me, everyone standing in front of me is a winner."

Clapping interrupted the speech for about a minute, and Mr. Goodshow let it go. The moment he stepped back up, the audience fell silent. "The old generation came through with the oldest podium in all my years as President. The young generation came through with unprecedented numbers, and many gems awaiting their turn. You'll be great one day, and let nobody convince you otherwise."

The lights in the stadium started dimming. "This tournament was truly remarkable! At its end, let us remember that the bonds we forge here, in battle and camaraderie, are those that should last in this marvellous world."

The only source of light was the bowl with moltres's fire far above them; the stars absent due to cloud cover. "And now, I declare the 164th Ever Grande Conference to be over, and I call on all trainers to set their eyes towards the next Lily of the Valley Conference, come a month and a half from now. Thank you, and fare well!"

And the flame atop the stadium went out.

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _[…] Though they are all part of the same series of tournaments, League Conferences in the Home Regions do have differences in execution. The Ever Grande Conference, for example, prides itself on its tradition of boosting promising youngsters to prominence, helped by a favourable system and spacing that doesn't put stress on team depth until the televised rounds start. At the opposite end, the Lily of the Valley Conference prides itself on being the consistently toughest League accor_ _ding to polls, with preliminaries weeding out weak trainers before the tournament even starts. The Indigo and Silver Conferences hold a middle ground: Indigo is often seen as the golden standard of Conferences, and the Silver Conference creates its own niche through innovative and ever-changing rules in the earlier rounds, emphasising creativity as well as team depth._

From: Trainers in the Home Regions, Chapter 10: Conferences.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Not quite as long as last chapter, but close, and Max's inevitable loss. It happens - as much as he got a head start from his childhood and first time around Hoenn (and Kanto), he's just not that experienced compared to older trainers. They will punish him for that: see grovyle and bagon making fatal mistakes vs gallade, or vulpix being too slow on her get-aways after attacking.

Metronome moves: Sludge Wave and Ice Shard.


	26. Chapter 26: Denouement

********Disclaimer:******** Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

* * *

 **Chapter 26: Denouement**

"Mum, I'm home!" Ash called as he closed the door, shaking his boots to dislodge the light dusting of snow. He placed the paper bags on the floor, re-placing one when it threatened to fall over and spill all the contents.

"Did you find everything you wanted, dear?" his mother said as she walked down the stairs, a levitating laundry basket and Mimey following her. "Certainly looks like it. Are you sure you didn't spend too much?"

"Don't worry Mum. I didn't go over my budget at all." On his shoulder, pikachu agreed. "Where's the wrapping paper?"

"Wherever you left it last night, dear." Delia walked up to her son and gave him a fierce hug. "Oh, it's so good to have you home again for Yule. I missed you last year." She took a step back, looking up at Ash's face. "Oh, Professor Oak wanted to see you around five. Will you be able to wrap everything before then?"

A look at the clock told Ash it was about three, and he nodded. "I think so," he said, taking the bags up to the dining room table. "Did he say what it was about?" he asked, but he mother didn't know, and so he would have to wait.

Wrapping presents was never fun, but Ash was halfway decent at it after lots of practice, and some of the presents were easy to wrap, like the second hand rare book on breeding Ash had found to give Brock. Then again, the starmie figurine he was sending to Cerulean took the better part of half an hour to wrap.

At least he didn't need to wrap the presents for May, Max, Danny, and Professor Birch. He'd already handed those off before leaving for home after the Ever Grande Conference, and they, without fail, had presented him with their presents. Ash could guess what they contained, but that would ruin all the fun of opening the presents.

Dusk was near when Ash left home for the Oak ranch, paper bag carrying the Professor's gift – a bottle of excellent Lavaridge cider – in hand. Snow had stopped falling, but every roof and bush around town was covered in a thin white layer. A few children were trying to make snowballs, but the snow was too powdery.

At the foot of the stairs to the Oak Laboratory, Ash met a familiar face, albeit one he hadn't seen for a quite a while. "Hey Gary, good to see you."

The brunet smirked when he saw Ash walking up. "If it isn't the Sinnoh League Champion himself. I was wondering if grandpa invited you too. C'mon, you're going to like this." The duo walked up to the entrance in silence. "After you."

"Ah, it's good to see you both again," Professor Oak greeted them as Gary closed the door behind them. Ash figured the older man had seen them coming. "Come, walk with me."

The trio moved deeper into the building, passing several of the Professor's assistants working on various things as they did. There weren't many: the holidays were nearly upon them and it was the Friday before Yule as well. Ash knew Tracey was visiting family in the Orange Islands. "Where are we going, Professor?"

Just then, Professor Oak stopped, and Ash recognised the locked door as the access to the storage room. One punched-in code later, and they entered, the door locking behind them automatically.

The room hadn't changed since Ash had last been here, mew only knew how long ago, except for one thing. There hadn't been two metal containers there the last time he was here, and it was to those boxes that the Professor walked. "Now, Ash, a quick question. Do you remember what my field of study is?"

"That's easy," Ash said. "It's… It's…"

"Not as easy, huh," Gary finished for him, not waiting too long. "Grandpa studies how humans and Pokémon interact with each other. There's more to it, but you might not understand."

Ash just rolled his eyes, and he knew pikachu was doing something similar. "Gary is correct," the Professor said. "And one of the things that was discovered just recently is one of the biggest things yet in human-Pokémon interaction: Mega Evolution." The older man grabbed one of the boxes. "I had to pull a few strings to acquire these, but nobody begrudged me getting some, considering what I do." He slid the lid back, and offered Ash the metal container.

Inside the box, laid out on foam padding, were three things. One was a metallic-looking ring, one was a small, multi-coloured ball, maybe as big as one of bulbasaur's unopened Leech Seeds, and the third was a larger ball, about as large as a shrunken pokéball, of speckled off-white, with a blue-and-white symbol inside; a symbol that matched the one seen on the smaller stone. "A Key Stone and a Mega Stone?" Ash ventured. "What's the ring for?"

"That's a Mega Ring," Gary answered, opening his own box and taking the ring out. Ash saw a hole in the ring's surface. "It's where you put your Key Stone. All the latest rage from Kalos, y'know."

"Again, my grandson is correct," the Professor spoke up. "And that Mega Stone is an Absolite. It's yours now."

Ash's box would have fallen to the ground had Gary not intercepted it. "But..." Ash trailed off. He had a million questions running through his mind. "I've only had absol for a month. Our bond is nowhere near strong enough."

"Then you'll have to work on that, won't you?" the elder Oak said, grinning, before turning serious. "Actually, if you could keep me up to date on the Mega Evolution, that would help me greatly. We know it works, but we don't know how strong the bond needs to be. Of course, it's rather unscientific, but that can't be helped."

Ash placed the box back on the shelf, taking the Mega Ring out. It wasn't made from metal, but rather from a hard plastic-like material that made it lighter than expected. It was a bit like wearing a bigger wristwatch. He could get used to that. "Thanks Professor." Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, reminding Ash that he, too, had something. "I think my gift is a bit simple now."

"On the contrary, my boy. If this is what I think it is, it'll be just fine for an old man like me."

 **~~§~~§~~**

It was just over two weeks until Keith would be leaving for Kalos, and already, his mother was on his case about packing and preparing. "Keith?" she shouted from downstairs, the moment she returned home from her work, "did you buy suitable clothes for Kalos yet?"

"Yes Mum," he shouted back, pushing his unfinished model space shuttle back carefully and grabbing the three bags he had walked away with. The clerk had been very helpful when he said he'd be going to Kalos, giving him a list of what was recommended and telling him which part of the list was good and which part was tauros shit. "I'm coming down," he added as he stepped onto the first floor landing in their small home.

Why had he taken the bags up again? Going down the stairs with them in hand was annoying, and he barely managed to not tumble down the thin steps.

His mother looked a bit tired, like she usually did after work, and she waited to hug him until he'd placed the bags on their dinner table. As soon as he had done that, she put her arms around him, the smell of lavender-y perfume filling his nostrils. It was comforting, but also a little overbearing. At least they were home, and not outside. "Are you sure that's enough?" she asked as she peered into the bags afterwards. "This doesn't look like much..."

"It's plenty Mum. It'll only be cold for like two or three months, and then the weather's going to be like it is now here, and only getting warmer. It's not Sinnoh."

"Okay…" his mother said, hesitatingly, looking at a warm sweater. "Is this your size?"

"It's a bit bigger," Keith replied, remembering how comfortable that particular sweater had been. "That way I might be able to wear it next winter, the clerk said."

"Oh, of course, growth spurts. I keep forgetting you haven't had one yet. You're so big already." She put the sweater back in the bag after folding it so fast Keith barely could see what she did. "Have you finished wrapping your Yule gifts yet?"

That had totally slipped his mind. "Eh… No?"

"I'll go make dinner. You go do that, mister," his mother ordered before giving him another quick hug.

His mother meant well, Keith thought as he caught his reflection in the hallway mirror. A slightly annoyed angular face underneath a wild mop of dirty blond hair peered back at him until Keith rolled his eyes and went back up. "Too bad she's so hovering."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Even if the gift-wrapping had slipped his mind, he didn't have a lot left to do. It was just the CD he'd be giving Danny – the second-hand shop he'd found it at was out of wrapping paper – and the charm for Jane's charm bracelet. He finished that task before dinner, and once he'd eaten, he took a plastic bag, filled it with the gifts for all of his local friends, and stepped out their front door.

Jane's house was closest, and Keith knew a shortcut or two. One he couldn't take: he couldn't climb fences with stuff in his hands, and the alley was too narrow, but onix could serve as a bridge over a ditch.

About twenty minutes after leaving home, he walked into the street that held Jane's home, in a better part of town. The streets were cleaner, the hedges were actually trimmed everywhere, the houses were bigger… Keith knew his mother tried his best after his father up and left, but that didn't mean he liked being poorer than most of his classmates.

He was the better trainer than most of them, though. Only four of them had made it to Ever Grande, including him. Talent beat riches any day of the week there.

Rain started falling as Keith walked up the garden path, and he thanked arceus that Jane's family had a small roof to shelter under at their front door. He rang the bell.

The door opened, revealing Jane herself, carrying a bowl of something with lots of vegetables. "Hi," she said, trying to look around Keith as he returned the greeting. "Come in."

Jane led him to the living room; warm, comfortable, two of Jane's Pokémon lying on the rug. "Your parents let you keep Pokémon out in the house?"

"Yeah?" Jane appeared confused as her houndour padded over to Keith, sniffing the hand he lowered as they sat down. The plusle remained where she was. "Your Mum doesn't?"

Keith shook his head. "No. Not even sableye." Not that he hadn't sent sableye or staryu out after his mother went to bed before. "You mind..."

"Go ahead," Jane said, and so Keith did. Sableye was happy to be out, and took a seat on the arm of Keith's chair.

Keith waited for Jane to finish her food, instead looking around the room. He'd never been here before, but he liked it. Tons of pictures and paintings hung on the walls, most of the pictures featuring Jane and her older brother, and the occasional Pokémon. The picture nearest Keith looked newest: it was Jane in Professor Birch's laboratory, smiling as she carried her torchic in her arms. She hadn't really changed much since: still the same long brown hair, same face, same smile…

A bowl being set on a coffee table broke his train of thought, and Keith saw Jane look at him, head slightly cocked. His face warmed up a bit. "Where are your parents and brother? Yule's only in three days."

Jane sighed deeply. "Work. Mum should be coming home soon, Dad's got a shift until midnight." She looked at the wall, and Keith followed her eyes to a picture of Jane's parents standing in front of Petalburg hospital, wearing their work clothing. "Justin's going around with presents for Yule. Like you are."

Keith plunged his hand into the bag, quickly locating the smallest box there. "You're right on that. Here. I hope you'll like it."

Jane accepted the tightly-wrapped gift, giving it a quick look before placing it in her lap. "I will, and I'm sorry I can't give you yours. Justin has it."

"Then I'll wait, and see what you got me. Waiting's half the fun, right?"

 **~~§~~§~~**

Jirachi his parent's cooking was great. It normally was, but they had really gone all-out for the Yule dinner now that both Birch siblings were home again. "Thanks Mom," Max heard his sister say from his left. "I think I won't have to eat for a week now."

"You did have three servings," his father said, a twinkle in his eye, "as did Max, and I don't know where you put it all." A chair scraped over the wooden floor. "Let's get all of this in the kitchen. Max, it's your turn to help your mother with the dishes, and May, I need you in the greenhouse for the Pokémon."

Fifteen minutes later, after all of the leftovers had been collected and stored, Max stared at the mountain of dishes and pots awaiting them. "Why didn't you ever buy a dishwasher?" he complained half-heartedly.

His mother laughed as she fiddled with the taps. "Never felt the need to. It's only this bad a couple times a year." She slid a few plates and most of the cutlery in. "You want to do or dry the dishes?"

"I'll do them." The less he moved the better. He still felt a bit bloated from eating too much, but it had been so good.

They laboured in silence for a while. "So," his mother said as Max finished scrubbing a casserole dish, "are you excited to go to Kalos?"

"Uhuh. Lots of cool Pokémon there, and it's even got two Conferences a year. One's in May, and one's in November. No Contests though. Instead, they have Pokémon Showcases, and it's not just about your Pokémon, but about presenting yourself as well."

"Sounds like something you're probably not going to do," his mother teased. "My not-so-little battle-happy son."

"Well, it's only for girls, but I wouldn't want to do it anyway," Max agreed, ignoring the blush on his face. "Give me the chaos of battle any day."

"Chaos?" his father broke in, opening a cupboard near Max to put the Pokémon food away. "That's not something I saw in your battles. You seemed to want to control it like I do. Set the pace."

"And I told you Dad, I just do what I think is the best thing to do," Max replied. "Blame yourself if you think I stole that from you."

A hand gripped his shoulder, and Max turned his head, seeing his Dad send him a look of disapproval before schooling his features into something more neutral. "There's no such thing as stealing a style. That's called 'inspiration', and unlike in Contests, it doesn't matter if you're repetitive." He broke into a small grin. "Besides, it got you quite far, so keep it up."

Max was certainly planning to.

An hour or so later, Max was up in his room, all the presents he received laid out on his bed. All of his family's gifts had been practical: a new pokéball belt; a new backpack; a coupon for the Holo Caster; clothes, that sort of stuff. The Professor had given him a subscription to one of the Pokémon research magazines, which was way cool, but it really didn't hold a candle to what he got from his friends, and in particular, Keith and Jane.

Both of them had run with the ralts story. Keith had given him a small glass figurine, maybe three inches high, of a ralts, carefully painted in the right colours, down to the smallest detail. Max wondered if Keith had painted it himself, vaguely recalling his classmate being great with fine motor work like that. Jane's present was a drawing of Max's face wearing a ralts hoodie, the Feeling Pokémon's front horn and bowl cut casting a hint of a shadow over drawn-Max's glasses. It was a beautiful thing, and Max's gift for Jane – a sketching set – felt almost inadequate. His gift for Keith definitely was, because he hadn't known what to give. He'd gone for a new pokéball belt as well, having noticed that Keith's looked decidedly second-hand.

Someone knocked on his open door, and Max heard, and saw, May walk up to him. "You should really buy a frame for that. It's gorgeous."

"Dad said he had a frame in the attic and he'd get it out tomorrow," Max replied as he got up, swiping the figurine and placing it on his desk. "And yeah, it's beautiful."

May closed the door. "So. How much trouble did you get into this year? Stuff you didn't tell the rest of the family over lunch."

"Trouble?"

"The stuff we never told Mom and Dad about."

Oh, right. That sort of trouble. "I may have skipped the details of how Danny got his masquerain." And of how Max got vulpix, or that raid with Ash. "Some poacher decided he wanted to capture some of the masquerain, we were close and you can probably guess the rest." He shrugged. "Fairly tame, I know, but not something you just tell."

"No Legendaries?"

"None," Max confirmed. "Kind of boring, actually. Did have the whole Pokémon rampage thing once, but I told you about that already. You meet any in Johto?"

"No. Seems we can't find any without Ash." May smiled fondly. "If nothing else, he was good for seeing Legendaries."

"And a lot of trouble. I kind of missed that. Kept us on our toes, and it always worked out in the end. Somehow."

 **~~§~~§~~**

As he had done the past two years, Danny spent the day after the Yule feast at his uncle's laboratory while his parents visited friends. None of their friends had children anywhere near Danny's age – the oldest was seven this year, he thought – and spending time with his uncle just felt better, and it was more fun as well. "Anything that really needs to be done?" Danny asked after they had exchanged a hug. Behind him, his father's alakazam Teleported back to Petalburg.

"It's feeding time, so let's go outside and feed some Pokémon."

Danny was okay with that, but the food his uncle was loading into the back of his jeep made him wonder where they were going. "What type is this for?"

"We're going to the Rock and Steel-type area today," his uncle told him. "It's Andreas's turn to do that, but he's taking care of some injured Pokémon. Territorial Bugs," he added with a shrug, as if it explained everything. "So we are just doing that."

The main group of Rock-types was just under ten minutes out by car, or five minutes by Birch jeep. Danny was very glad that the car had top-notch seatbelts and locks, or something would have bounced out at some point. He wasn't sure if it would be him or the food in the boot.

They made it to the general area in one piece, and the first thing Danny heard when they exited the car was a rather loud and angry roar from their right. "Oh, please tell me it's not that time," his uncle pleaded. A second roar followed the first. "Apparently, it is." His uncle sighed, unclipping two pokéballs and tossing one to Danny, who caught it without a problem. "That's swampert. Just send him out when we get close, and follow my lead."

The noise was the result of two tyranitar posturing at each other near a cave, about two minutes of walking away. The armoured Pokémon didn't appear to notice the newcomers, instead roaring again, and one of them moved forward. The other didn't step back, and a hint of orange built up in its mouth. "That's enough. Machamp, go!" Professor Birch ordered, and Danny hastily threw his pokéball as far as he could. "Focus Punch!"

"Ice Beam!"

The Focus Punch stopped the Hyper Beam from forming, and the Ice Beam made sure the other tyranitar didn't jump in. Both of them were glaring murderously, but machamp started wrestling one away, and the other didn't even attempt to follow after breaking its feet out of the ice. It still looked angry, but tyranitar always did. "Trouble averted. I'll go get the food. You stay here."

His uncle left, leaving Danny with machamp, swampert, and the relatively docile tyranitar. The Armor Pokémon paid Danny no heed, giving the teen a chance to study the rare Pokémon up close, Its skin was pockmarked, scars criss-crossing its scaled belly, and both of the holes on its left leg were jagged around the edges. It had battled hard, and often, to be marked like that: tyranitar were some of the sturdiest Pokémon around.

It suddenly slammed its tail into the ground twice, and swampert instantly formed the start of an Ice Beam, but let it fade once the tyranitar made no hostile move whatsoever, instead continuing to ignore everyone else.

Then a second tyranitar walked out of the nearby cave, and Danny noticed something on its shoulders.

Larvitar. Two tiny larvitar, maybe a foot tall if that. They clung on as the second tyranitar lumbered in Danny's direction, stopping next to the first tyranitar and assuming the same sitting position as it. Both tyranitar then started… crooning?

"Amazing," Danny's uncle said from behind him, making Danny jump. He had not heard his uncle coming. "So that's why she wasn't here. I'll have to call Sidney about this."

"Sidney?" Danny echoed, confused.

"They're his tyranitar, and he's been adamant about breeding some larvitar. Looks like his patience paid off. Now come," his uncle told him, grabbing Danny's shoulder, "we've got food to give out and pictures to make."

An hour later, they were back in the laboratory. His uncle walked over to one of the computers, plugging the camera in. "What's going to happen to the larvitar?" Danny wondered.

"I think Sidney has some family who might take care of them until his nephew and nieces are old enough to maybe want them," his uncle answered, opening a drawer in the desk. "Here, catch." Danny caught the small rectangular object with ease, and found it to be a pocket Trainer's Guide to Kalos. "Came in last night. Has all the usual information."

"Cool!" Danny said, checking the table of contents. Cities, Gyms, common Pokémon, history, traditions… Everything was there. "Have you ever been to Kalos, uncle?" he asked as he flipped to the part on Lumiose City, where they'd be landing.

The Professor lazily stretched in his seat, turning around. "A few times for scientific conferences, but never really stayed long. If you could catch some common Kalos Pokémon..." he trailed off, winking. "There's about six of them at the lab at most, and three of them are vivilion."

"And the other three?"

"Sylveon and two of the starter evolutions, but they're not here right now," his uncle told him, getting up from his chair. "You'll have to tell Sycamore if they're for me, so he can transfer ownership."

"Oh, right, can't send Pokémon here directly," Danny said, remembering something about that. "Where can we find Professor Sycamore?"

"Lumiose," came the dry reply. "Pretty much everything important can be found there, with exceptions." The adult let out a sigh, getting up and clasping Danny's shoulder. "It's a gorgeous city, by day and night, and far larger than anything you're used to. They also have amazing fireworks at New Year's."

"So don't leave Lumiose until next year?"

"You could spend a week and still only have seen half of everything tourists go there for."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Whichever idiot thought seven o'clock in the morning was a good time to start boarding should think again, Alice thought as she yawned in the unheated waiting room. Her twin brother Paul was attempting to catch some more sleep on a nearby chair, and her friend Linda was nursing a cup of coffee. It smelled great, but Alice knew she shouldn't fall for that: it tasted terrible.

They were waiting for the sign to board a boat on a trip that would take them to Vermillion City in Kanto: a trip that would take the better part of three days. First they'd have to go to Littleroot, and then tomorrow, on the 29th of December, they'd leave for Vermillion itself. They could also have gone to Pallet Town, but then they would either leave in the new year, or they would have had to leave home on Yule, just to catch one of the boats to Littleroot. Vermillion also had a Gym, meaning Paul and Linda were all for going there.

Alice wondered what Kanto was like. Colder than Hoenn, probably. Maybe she'd see actual snow for once: she heard there was a cold front over the region right now. Hoenn was always so warm, and you had to go out of your way to see snow. "Hey Linda, does it snow in Unova?"

"Yeah," Linda said. "There's this big area in the north-west that's always frozen in winter, and there's tons of snow there. Makes travellin' and workin' outside hard, my Da says, and he's happy he moved to Castelia with Mom. It only gets snow if it's really cold, but there's some every winter." The Unovan teen smiled at Alice. "You never seen snow?"

Alice's reply was stopped by the speaker crackling to life. "Passengers for the 7:30 ferry to Littleroot can now start boarding. Please keep tickets ready."

Alice woke Paul, and together, they found a corner of the luggage area to drop their backpacks off in. Paul immediately went deeper into the ferry, intent on seeking breakfast, but Alice joined Linda in walking up to the deck.

Grey as far as the eye could see greeted them, but the sea was fairly quiet, unlike the return journey from Ever Grande. "What's it like? Goin' to a different region, I mean."

Linda took a few moments to answer Alice's question. "Weird, but fun, excitin', and cool, all at the same time. It's easier than I thought to understand all of ya, too. I'm sure we'll find our way in Kanto without a problem, and if there is one, we can just ask for help somewhere. Not like we don't know people, and Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy are always helpin' trainers like us."

Alice stayed silent, thinking, staring out into the grey ahead of her without seeing it, until a hand on her shoulder made her jump. It was Paul, carrying a few sandwiches. "Thought you might want so-ome," he said, voice cracking, making him blush and sending the girls into giggles. "Sodding hell," Paul added, and the higher pitch did little to stop the giggles.

"Don't worry Paul," Alice said, throwing an arm around him and giving him a quick hug, "you're still my big brother." She winked at Linda, who was standing behind the two. "Even if you sound like my little sister."

"Hey!"

 **~~§~~§~~**

Gregory's alakazam delivered all of them to the Mauville Airport entrance, far away from everyone else. Norman enjoyed the look on his son's face: the last time they had taken a plane, Max had been only three, and he didn't remember that. May did, but she was sulking because of having to get up early. Teenagers and their sleeping habits…

The group, minus the returned alakazam, found their way inside. For nine in the morning in the Yule holiday season, it was busy, though that still meant only four of the nine desks were manned, without too much of a queue. "Well, my lads, there she is," Gregory spoke up, leading them to the side. "The plane that'll take you to Kalos."

"Actually, Dad, that's an Alolan plane," Danny said, pointing at something. Norman followed the imaginary line his finger made. "See the company? _Alola_ Air?"

Norman had no doubt Gregory knew that, nor did he doubt Danny knew his father knew. That apple didn't fall far from the tree at all, but he also knew that underneath the joking exteriors were two loyal hearts. "I'm certain you'll find the plane soon enough, and boarding is not for another hour and fifty minutes in any case. You have plenty of time." He spotted a new check-in desk opening. "Come, let's get you checked in."

After the boys had been relieved of their luggage, except for a small bag slung over the shoulder each, all of them walked back to the wall-sized window. "Is that it?" Max wondered, spotting a Kalos Airline plane taxiing on the runway. "It's smaller than the Alolan one."

"Ah," Gregory broke in, "but the Alolan airplane is one of the biggest ever produced, seating over 500 people. This one has a capacity closer to 275 people, but it is every bit as impressive an engineering feat as any other plane. Did you know this build can also be converted to a cargo plane?"

Norman hid a smile when Danny interrupted his father, calling him out on having read that the night before, and he didn't even try to hide it when Max not-so-innocently wondered if that had been the reason why Gregory had been the last one to get ready for leaving, just half an hour back.

Arceus he would miss his son's remarks. He had definitely grown used to hearing them in the past month, and even before that, during their many calls. There wouldn't be as many now: Kalos was eight hours behind Hoenn, meaning that calling had a limited window in which both of them were actually awake, unless one of them wanted to start burning the midnight oil. Norman wasn't inclined to do that, even if Max was. "Come. Let's drop these two miscreants off at security. Maybe they will know what to do with them," he offered, interrupting the light banter that had been going on.

"Capital idea. Lead on!" Gregory said, grabbing Danny by the back of his coat, lightly.

All too soon, they were at the barriers that forbade the family entry, but would let the pre-teens through, and the farewells began. May and Max exchanged a snarky comment or two, referencing something Norman didn't understand. Nor did he care to understand it, for that matter. Some things parents didn't need to know. Caroline did a brief hug and a long shared look in silence, and then it was Norman's turn. He held out a hand, and Max took it immediately, grip nice and strong. "Best of luck, son. Go show those Kalosians what Hoenn Trainers can do."

"Will definitely do." His son let go. "Call tomorrow?"

"Call whenever you'd like."

His son gave a nod before turning around, poking Danny in the shoulder. They exchanged a final few words of farewell, and stepped forward.

Ten minutes later, Norman and Gregory were waiting for their orders in one of the airport coffeehouses. The others were in charge of finding seats for five, which was easier said than done when most tables sat two or four without movable chairs. "So, Norman," Gregory started, "how far will our sons go this time? Kalos's Conferences only accept 128 per half a year, so a good result could be truly excellent."

"I honestly don't know. Not because I don't want to fall into the trap of high expectations," he added quickly, seeing Gregory look at him weirdly, "but because I'm not sure where their limits are." He sighed deeply. "The last month has been eye-opening, to say the least."

"You did beat both of them in battle."

"For now. Come another year, that could actually be hard." Norman shook his head slowly. "And for now, I'm not sure whether that will make me unfathomably happy, or a little sad."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive, my friend. All the best tales contain both, in varying amounts." The stage manager wanted to say more, but it was interrupted by a call from the bar. "Ah, coffee. Danny was right, you know. I did stay up too late for that information. I trust you won't tell him or Max?"

"Of course not. Us old folk need to have some secrets still."

 **~~§~~§~~**

Two men and a gardevoir materialised in a remote location on an already remote island. Several Pokémon lounging nearby looked up, but most of them ignored the duo once they saw who had arrived. One flew over, and was rewarded with a hand under its chin. "The die is cast now. I look forward to seeing what comes of it," said one of the men, the one whose hand wasn't preoccupied. "Thank you, noble gardevoir. You can leave now."

The Psychic-type left with a soft expression of gratitude before vanishing, Teleporting halfway across the region to her Trainer. "What we did," the other, slightly taller, man said, "is something I am at once reluctant and hopeful about. Politicians, other prominent figures, a select few chief among them, will have my head if the particulars of this mission see the light of day, yet I now believe as you do that it was the right thing to do despite its drawbacks."

"Sometimes, the only way to move forward is to tread outside what is acceptable, and accept what must be done." Both men sat down as the floating Pokémon went and rejoined its family. "Both of us know those rumblings cannot be ignored. There have been too many incidents in the past five years."

"Yes," came simple agreement. "Would it that everyone stuck to poaching plans, rather than grand schemes. It would make our lives less stressful."

"Quite."

Silence fell, and the shorter man retreated into thought. Five years ago, when he first rose to this particular position, he would have balked at what he had done just now. Myriad events had opened his eyes to this possibility, and even though even he had minor doubts, he did feel they made the right choice in the end. And if diplomatic fallout was the trade-off for avoiding global peril, then he would bear that burden. Gladly.

 **~~§~~§~~**

Many tales make up the Pokémon world, and only a minuscule minority of them ever include conflict on a scale that exceeds the Pokémon and their Trainer in scope. On December 28th, at around noon Hoenn Standard Time, it was no different.

In a Petalburg ice-cream parlour, two teenagers met to discuss their upcoming travels to Kalos, and the fact that their friends were leaving for it already. One of them was a tiny bit distracted, but his friend didn't notice.

Ten miles north of Rustboro, a Gym Leader walked up the drive, noting that the well-trimmed hedges were slightly less full than the last time he had been there. He carried a briefcase, writings outlining the findings his client had asked him to present held within.

On route 107, a ferry adjusted its course by thirty degrees north over the span of several minutes. On board, a brother, a sister, and their friend, sat down for lunch, eagerly discussing what would await them in Kanto, just two days onward.

In Kanto, at an undisclosed location only a few were aware of, a trio listened. Their time away from their previous pursuits had caused them to rise in stature, and they were rewarded for it now. Come the next year, they would be thousands of miles away, expanding infrastructure in a new region.

Just outside Pallet Town, also in Kanto, a teenager sent out two Pokémon. One was one of his oldest friends, having been with him for nearly five years already, while the other was his newest Pokémon, white fur gleaming in contrast to the mottled green of his opponent. Without delay, they sprang into battle.

Inside a laboratory, hidden underneath a respectable veneer of capitalism, a proud man read the newest message he had been sent in the dead of night. His heart lifted as he did so, for the easiest, yet hardest, part of his endeavour had been completed.

Inside another laboratory, this one in Littleroot, a Professor had no time to think about anything else but taking care of the wounded cubone that had been brought to his place. Tersely, he instructed his assistant to go fetch the newest member of Hoenn's Elite Four and a Nurse Joy, tossing a claydol's pokéball over. This was beyond his considerable expertise.

Guards in a hidden jail reported nothing new about their once-escaped prisoner. The ritual had been the same for over three months: a litany of curses and threats, followed by delusional begging and praying to a Lady, with the occasional insane ramblings interspersed. However the man had once got away, nobody knew.

At Mauville Airport's observation deck, two families stood side-by-side, watching as a plane finished taxiing to the runway. Their emotions were mixed, though pride shone brightest, as it had done only nine months back for four of them. In that time, so much had changed, yet the sorrowful joy of watching their children leave on their journey remained the same. The sole teenager there felt similar, albeit without the frame of reference.

A freshly repainted lorry pulled into a Slateport parking lot, en-route to one of the many islands of Hoenn's south-eastern region. Supplies had been asked for, and this was the easiest way to transport them. With any luck, the driver thought, this would be the breakthrough needed.

Inside the plane, a pair of pre-teens looked at each other as they felt their bodies start to be impacted by increasing acceleration. Both of them felt the same excitement of going off to a new region, and the same sadness of having to leave family behind. They'd get through that, together. It wasn't anything that they hadn't done before, and above all, they were Trainers. They were meant to travel the world, to encounter new and exciting Pokémon. It was the only way to sate their wanderlust.

It was right.

 **FIN**

 **~~§~~§~~§~~§~~**

 _My Lord,_

 _We have found Project Y, hidden inside caverns north-west of Location 21. We dare not detach the cocoon from the ground, but X-ray work has revealed it is only lightly rooted. Segmenting a slab of rock should be of no issue if we so need._

 _Project X remains to be found, although we have increased our manpower at Location 21, pursuant to your Directive XIV._

 _Beauty above all!_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And thus it ends. This book, at least. The first chapter of the sequel will go up alongside this chapter, though it'll also be the last chapter for a while. My buffer is spent right now, and I want to rebuild it. Most of the first arc has been plotted out, but the actual writing takes time. If you want to know when the next update comes out, swing by Evolving Stratagems and put it on alert.

There is absolutely nothing strange going on in this chapter, by the way. No sir/madam, nothing at all. Ignore any evidence to the contrary.


End file.
